Hero's Tail
by 4eros
Summary: Shirou Emiya dedicated his life and soul for the purpose of saving as many innocent lives as he could. It may have been difficult and it may have had its flaws, but it still remains a noble dream to have. Now that Shirou has gained a new life in Earth Land, will he take the same path he has before?
1. Hero's Tail: Prologue

**Hero's Tail; Prologue**

Author's notes:

Disclaimer – I do not own any of the original material used in this story

I've been reading quite a few fanfictions lately, especially those involving anything F/SN related. After reading all these fanfictions, I thought, why not try writing one myself? I looked through my collections of anime and whatnot and decided to throw Shirou Emiya into the Fairy Tail world. There's no shortage of characters for Shirou to interact with, and at the same time it already has a well-developed world with its own laws, societies and their own interpretation of magic. I've always seen Shirou as the 'ultimate' male-lead; he has a badass fighting style, he's got the looks of a hero, he's compassionate and kind, but also isn't afraid of staining his hands with blood, oh and he can cook.

I realize my prologue is a little cliché as you'll probably find out soon enough, but this is how I see it happening. Not going out with a boom or bang that shocks the world, but simply dying from being true to his ideals. There's another on-going F/SN X Fairy Tail fanfiction that I've recently read (it's quite a fun read, you should check it out; it's the only on-going one at the moment), so far it looks quite different than what I'm planning for, which is good because I wouldn't want mine looking like a copy of his.

Because this is my first fanfiction, hopefully I get can some reviews about what I'm doing right or wrong. Last, but not least, I hope you enjoy the story!

[STORY START]

The fighting lasted well over an hour.

Fatigue was gradually eating away at my mind making it feel like an eternity before the battle was finally decided. Without having rested or slept for days, I had stood before a blood seeking army fast approaching a quiet village near the outskirts of Fuyuki City. They engaged me without any sort of direction and were quite disoriented, yet with their numbers alone I was a short step away from being overwhelmed. When the last of my foes fell in front of me, dyeing the grass in a fiery red, I no longer had the energy to cheer or to stand for that matter as I collapsed onto my knees also feeling the weight of my two swords vanishing. In front of me lay countless numbers of supernatural beings who were once human known as the Dead Apostles and their undead familiars. The previous vast empty grasslands had now become the final resting place for these tormented souls.

I could no longer differentiate between the pains caused by my overloaded Magic Circuits, or from the multiple mortal wounds that my body currently housed. My red cloak was reduced to nothing more than a few feet of cloth that could barely keep itself wrapped around my body and my black breastplate had been completely torn off as it lay underneath one of the bodies of the Dead Apostles a few yards away. My white hair even seemed to have reverted back to its youthful red hair from the amount of blood in it. Yet surprisingly, I no longer cared about any of my current circumstances as I stared emptily into the sky. The weather was splendid. It was mildly cool, pleasant moonlight permeated through the veil of clouds onto my figure. Gazing straight towards the source of the light, I retraced the last couple days.

It has been seven years since the conclusion of the 5th Holy Grail War, and once again trouble was stirring in Fuyuki City. Tohsaka Rin and I had decided to rid the world of the Greater Grail once and for all. Though we were no longer in a relationship due to our different goals and directions in life, we still remained the closest of friends. I had confided in her as she did in me without interfering in the lives of one another. And this time our and numerous other mages' goal had intersected as we looked towards disassembling the Greater Grail, but of course doing something of that magnitude couldn't occur without opposition. The Association planned on recovering the Greater Grail themselves, and this was the beginning of another war. Facing great resistance from both sides, individuals of great powers began converging into Fuyuki City. Once the tides were turned in favor of Rin's group, another problem had arisen. As I had learned from my own experiences of the Holy Grail War; there can never be an easy way out when the Grail is involved, so this wasn't much of a surprise. Most likely sensing the concentration of Mages in Fuyuki City, a wave of Dead Apostles began taking actions of their own during the time of turmoil.

With a strong desire to feast on the flesh of humans, the Dead Apostles directed their attention to villages outside of Fuyuki City. Numerous villages were devoured within days, yet not enough Mages or Executors could be mustered within that short amount of time with such an overwhelming force of Dead Apostles. Upon hearing the news from Rin, without a second thought I quickly rushed into the fray before any more lives were harmed.

Which brings me to where I am now; over five kilometres behind the battle, a village with a population of a few hundred had stood previously in the wake of an army of undead familiars and their few Dead Apostle masters. Now, the night was calm, it was eerily peaceful, as the pungent smell of rotting flesh shrouded the cool air. I continued basking in the serenading moonlight that seemed to reduce the excruciating pain from my wounds and mind as more and more blood accumulated on the ground and the surface of my body. My Magic Circuits were indeed beyond repair now, and without a doubt, my life was slowly trickling away.

_Did I do it? Did I follow my way of life without regret?_ My consciousness began to fade as another serene light enters my sight. _I just saved hundreds of innocents from certain peril… Am I really contemplating about this?_ A single tear flowed down my bloodied face as I accepted the resolution and the fate that I had acquired. A blinding white light encloses my entire mind and the last thing I remembered was smiling from happiness that rivaled even my own father's.


	2. Hero's Tail: A New Beginning

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 1**

Author's note: Well here's the real first chapter where Shirou makes contact with Earth Land; basically the introduction and set-up for what's to come.

I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

[STORY START]

_What is this?_ I slowly clenched my fists and could feel that I still had full control of my body. Looking around it was quite obvious I was no longer in Japan. I was lying on a soft pillow of grass; planet like globes decorated the mural like sky drenched in a multitude of purple, red and blue colours. Crystals of numerous sizes were equally spread across the area, with plenty of random monuments accompanying them. Looking at the strange arrangement of objects was beginning to give me a headache, but that wasn't my main focus at the moment. _I should be dead, but my soul has yet to be recovered by the Root, what a strange phenomenon._ The feeling of blood still courses throughout my veins and even my Magic Circuits have miraculously been repaired from its irreversible state it was once in. I peered at my once torn apart body and realized not a single wound remained aside from my previous scars; my red cloak and armor was also back in tip-top conditions.

"Impossible…" I silently whispered out loud to the land around me. As if responding to my quiet declaration, a massive humanoid figure began forming before my eyes through what seemed to be a large vortex of mana. With its unworldly entrance, all light seemed to have vanished at the sight of this magnificent being as it stood poised in front and above me with its arms crossed. Besides its gigantic stature, its most prominent features were its long white whiskers similar to those found on those ancient Chinese dragons, its skin was a light blue colour and its eyes were purely red with no signs of pupils. Its attire was also nothing less than fabulous, with a full plate of armor split between an upper turquoise portion and a golden bottom half. It also wore a helmet adorned with a large golden star at the centre and ox-like horns on either side. What really piqued my interest was the fact that despite there being an absence of any sort of wind; its white cape continued billowing behind in a gentle rhythm.

If I wasn't so accustomed to seeing the most mysterious and supernatural of creatures, I might've considered myself in the afterlife and believing that this colossal humanoid form in front of me as a genuine god. With a nod of my head, I acknowledged the being in front of me floating above ground. Remarkably I found myself without any hint of fear, unlike other occasions when an unknown supernatural appears before me, I'd have my mind ready to trace my two favourite weapons, the black Kanshou and the white Bakuya, representing yin and yang. These two twin swords of mine were my most trusted swords within my entire arsenal of weapons; they were not the most lethal or powerful of swords, but the craftsmanship of the blades is astoundingly beautiful.

'_If he wanted me dead, he could've stabbed me with a wooden stick while I was unconscious,' _I figured.

"Welcome human, to the Celestial Spirit World, I am the Celestial Spirit King and the ruler of said world," bellowed the spirit king. His voice seemed to echo throughout the lands as I could even feel his voice shaking within my core. "Normally it is strictly forbidden for humans to enter this realm, but an exception was made for your case. At the request of a very _old_ friend of mine, I have taken the liberty of overruling the law just this once for you. Congratulations human, you are the first to be invited into the Celestial Spirit World."

I could only blink in surprise at the sudden news of my departure into another world, but I'd have to leave that for another time. First things first, I needed some clarifications. A few questions were already etched into my mind that I needed answers for.

"I thank you for your kind welcome; my name is Shirou Emiya," giving one of my deepest bows, I lowered my head to show my respect towards potentially my savior. "As you may expect, I have a lot of questions to ask you, hopefully it isn't out of your way to answer them for me."

"I have all the time in the world, you may ask," he answered. I was not sure whether that was a figure of speech or the truth, thinking about it would give me an even greater headache so I didn't bother.

Relaxing slightly at the spirit's easy-going nature, I began my attack of questions. '_Were you the one that healed me?_' It seemed that when I first arrived in this world I was a mess to behold. Hanging on to dear life, it was nothing short of a miracle that I was still barely alive. This world has very potent rejuvenating properties within its lands, capable of restoring both physical and magical damages of an individual. Aside from the healing properties of the world, it seemed that my impression of the friendly giant spirit was correct; he was the one that brought me back from a dead-like state, and also he was extremely powerful. Using an exceptionally powerful spell that he referred to as 'Arc of Time' which allowed the user to manipulate the "time" of any object to their will, the Spirit King was able to restore my body (and clothes for that matter) back to a time when it was in top condition. Before moving on to the next couple questions, I thanked him to show my gratitude which he waved off.

My next question was, '_how did I get here?_' From the explanation I was given, when I was at the brink of death, a portal to this world was opened in front of me and basically sucked me right in. A portal capable of sending an individual to another world required an unimaginable amount of power and knowledge. Of course, this very world may be from another dimension altogether, which would sound very familiar to Second Magic that a particular wizard was very accustomed to. Following up with the current topic of discussion I decided to ask, 'who was this very _old_ friend of yours?' It seemed the Spirit King himself did not know the true identity of my benefactor, instead would refer to him as _old_ friend whenever they met, which did not happen quite often from the looks of it. This friend of the Spirit King was able to travel through parallel or alternate worlds. Not only was this friend powerful enough to impress the Spirit King, it seemed he has also lived for many centuries already.

"Hah…" I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand, which seemed much like a natural action when I heard this piece of news. Subconsciously I probably already knew who was responsible for all this. From the rumors I've heard from individuals at the Clock Tower, it's well known that whenever an inexplicable event occurs, there is always one solution. Blame Zelretch the Wizard Marshall; coincidently, Rin was a pupil of Zelretch, putting in whole sorts of explanations for what had actually conspired. It appeared that I was not allowed to experience death just yet. Sighing one last time, I asked, "So now that I'm here, what do I do?"

Finally changing his pose, the spirit king placed one of his hands underneath his chin to stroke his imaginary beard. "This world is spiritually connected to another world known as Earth Land. My _old_ friend has already set up the necessary procedures for your summoning into that world," kindly explained the Spirit King. _A summoning, well isn't that a coincidence. _"Unlike the normal summoning of spirits, you will not be required to form a contract with the summoner. You may have been inches away from death, but you still remain a full-fledged human being. You will have your own will and freedom in this new life of yours; accept this as a second chance at the life you have thought to have forfeited. I hope it was worth the trouble of granting you a new life in the world I have looked after for millennia" His gaze on my eyes exerted a massive force that felt as if I was being crushed under a boulder made of lead. Still, I stood strong and firm as I returned the overwhelming force with my own resolve.

"Since the time that my father saved me and until the time when my life truly comes to an end, I will faithfully live by my ideals," I firmly stated as I thought back to the times when my ideals were tested to its limits by the presence of my anguished future self. If not even my own self could prevent my decision to a life of sacrifice, then I have already passed the point in no return in the path I dedicated my life to. "I am an Ally of Justice, and wherever my aid is required, I will live and die for that cause."

I truthfully have never met any other person who could call themselves an 'Ally of Justice' without feeling a little embarrassed, and honestly I don't blame them. As cliché as it was, it's still the perfect label for the shape my life has taken, my way of life. I once saw the hypocrisy behind my ideals through Archer, one of the possible futures for the life I could have, during the Grail War. Through his pain and agony, I've come to understand that not everyone can be saved, but that won't stop me; I'll still risk my life to save even one more person.

"Wonderful, Shirou Emiya..." The Spirit King paused for a second. "No, that doesn't sound right... My new friend! I acknowledge your determination and wish you luck on your new adventure!" The Spirit King gave a grin that stretched from one side of his face to the other, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth.

"What is this?" I shouted in surprise. Just as the Spirit King finished his complimentary sentence, small orbs of golden light began rising up towards the sky as my body started disappearing from bottom-up.

"Our time together was short, my friend. But from the small discussion we had, I can already sense an extraordinary brilliance from within you," said the Spirit King still retaining his grand smile. "You are destined for greatness my friend. I will be watching your adventures in Earth Land and the reason why you call yourself an 'Ally of Justice'!"

I stared up into the blackened sky of the world as my body was nearly dissolved in the golden orbs of light. "Thank you for everything friend, I'll be sure to give you a good show." Once again, my vision was flooded with a blinding white light; it was peaceful.

[Scene Break]

"Boyoyoyo, what a dreadful sight to behold," said someone in an extremely irritating voice. My vision was returning to me, and now I was in some sort of luxurious room with walls painted in gold, candles hanging from golden chandeliers, and even a throne placed in the middle of the room entirely made of gold. And seated on this extravagant throne was the source of the previous voice; a short, chubby man well past his prime with the little amounts of hair he had on his head pushed to the side, and one of those old fashioned English moustaches. He wore a tuxedo that must've been hell to tailor due to his large body which completely contrasted his toothpick-like arms and legs, and grasped in his left hand was a lit cigar larger than his entire head. "Be honored spirit that you are in the presence of the Duke of Evaroo! It's very saddening though, the so called special Celestial Spirit Gate Key I obtained is another fail after all! All I wanted was a beautiful blonde that I could add to my collection of gorgeous maids, but instead I got an ugly tanned male with white hair and who's too tall for his own good, what's worse is that he doesn't even have a weapon to fight with, boyoyoyo."

I have never been one to worry about my looks or my aesthetic appeal, but for some reason hearing these words from the man before me made me boil with rage. I could feel my veins popping out on my forehead as I held back my snarl with a wry grin. Before I could retort the stout man's description of me, another male appeared from behind. The male was a little shorter than me, wearing clothes resembling those in Chinese kung-fu movies, and also had the same queue hairstyle that was common in them. The most interesting thing was that he had a giant frying pan slung behind his back. _Was he some sort of magnificent Chinese chef?_

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the Fairy Tail mages have entered the manor, your maids are engaging them at the moment," whispered the man into the duke's ear. By using my abilities of reinforcing on my ear to increase my hearing capabilities, I was able to listen in on his whisper.

"Spirit, it seems I'm busy, so reopen the Celestial Spirit gate and get your ugly mug off my property! Lucky for you, the Gate Key magically disappeared after summoning you," readjusting his tuxedos collar, the duke propped himself out of his chair. "It's exterminating time!"

Both the duke and the chef left the room leaving me dumbfounded. The only thing I could think of at that moment was, '_Thank god I wasn't contracted to him. I wouldn't have wanted to bloody my hands this early…' _Regaining my composure, I decided to leave the room and follow discretely behind the duke and his accomplice. It seems that a battle between mages was about to begin, I couldn't waste the opportunity to experience what I was up against in this world.

[Scene Break]

I ended up following the companion of the duke after the duke suddenly dug a tunnel in his own mansion at an impressive rate. I felt sorry for the caretakers that would have to clean up after that. I decided to hide behind one the pillars on the second level of what seemed to be a library. On the first floor, the man with the giant frying pan and another taller man wearing white pants, black leather jacket and with black hair styled to look like a marijuana leaf stood against another male of average height. The male who was what I believed to be a 'Fairy Tail' mage was a well-built young male with rosy pink colored spiky hair. He wore an open black waistcoat with gold lining with a matching open skirt that opened at the front with white knee-length trousers underneath. Last but not least was his white scarf that adorned his attire; because of my _Structural Grasp Magecraft _which allows me to basically view a blueprint of said object, it was certain that this scarf of his was no ordinary scarf. This kid was nothing less than special as well; just from the amount of power expelling from his body was enough for me to conclude the ending to this fight.

"That's how mages are," said the one with the frying pan.

"If they don't have their magic, they don't even have the average power of a human being," followed his partner.

Even in my world this was true in some cases. Sometimes mages would dive too deep into their own research and specialties that they forget about the fundamentals. Without a definite way of defending oneself, something as trivial as a rock thrown by a child could ultimately knock a grown-man out. Sadly for these two mages though, this kid was a new story altogether.

"But then, none of your attacks are hitting me," replied the pink-haired mage as he danced around with his two arms flailing in the air. Sticking out his tongue he made another gesture, "Bweeeeh."

The two partners weren't taken back by the taunt in front of them. If I wasn't sure before, I was certain now that the one with the frying pan was no chef. The pseudo-chef extended the arm carrying the frying pan to his side as the black haired male jumped in the frying pan using it as a lever to spring himself up to the air.

"Let's go! Heaven and Earth extinct slaying attack!" Shouted the black haired companion. I have to admit, it sounded very impressive, but that alone wouldn't do much. The union attack of the two partners was nothing more than a two-pronged charge, as one would attack from the air while the other charges from the ground. The pseudo-chef dove straight towards his opponent, using his frying pan as a spear. A large clang rang throughout the room as the frying pan made contact with the pink-haired male's skull.

"Goahhhh!" He shouted as he was knocked back a few feet. The pink-haired male struck his feet against the floor and resumed his stance against the pseudo-chef. It seemed he completely forgot about his opponent still catching air-time, because before he knew it the large man came crashing down fists first. "Bhoooo!" He yelled out again before his head was engraved into the marble tiles that once made up the floors.

The two partners then proceeded to jump back and posed in what looked like a stance made for praying. "No one has ever survived after taking this…" said the two partners before their proud declaration suddenly trailed off. I chuckled softly out loud as the young pink-haired male pulled his head out of the floor and hopped right back up.

After the pink-haired male got right back up, he followed up with a powerful fire attack that came from his mouth; it was like he was a dragon in human-form. The pseudo-chef countered by reflecting the fire using his frying how stupid was that? A frying pan that reflects fire, how could you even cook anything with that? The pseudo-chef should apologize to all real chefs for using such a disgrace to frying pans.

The reflected fire from the frying pan was quickly eaten up, literally, by the pink-haired male. From eating all the flames, it appeared that the pink-haired male would gain an exponential amount of power.

'_This fight was as good as over,_' I thought to myself. I quickly reinforced my ears once again to locate where the duke was heading. Hearing the rumbles of earth being dug through, I quietly left the library where the fight was just about to end. And just as I left, I heard the two partners shouting out in disbelief and the roar of a great fire. Whatever hair the pseudo-chef once had was most likely reduced to ashes at this point.

[Scene Break]

It wasn't hard to locate where the duke was headed from the amount of noise he made. This man was boisterous in both his speech and his actions. Following the duke led me to an underground sewage system. _Just how big was this mansion of his?_ Once again I hid behind a corner as I observed the situation at hand. The duke was not alone; it looked like he was up against two opponents this time. The first was a young female with blonde hair reaching slightly past her shoulders; a blue ribbon was tied in a singular bunch to the side of her head. She wore what looked like a simple pink camisole and a very short skirt, both which were very tight and helped accentuate her very well developed curves even further. The second opponent of the duke was a small blue cat, who looked very happy even while standing neck deep in sewage water. _Were these two Fairy Tail mages too?_

"The tables have turned, huh? If you give me this book, I may forgive you. Though I want to hit you at least once…" proclaimed the young blonde, holding out a collection of gold and silver keys in her hand. I smiled at her last comment; at least there was someone here who I shared the same opinion as. The duke countered with his own threats and suddenly went on the attack. Tunneling deep underground, the duke emerged within the next second beside the blonde with an uppercut. The blonde wasn`t too shabby herself, as she quickly jumped back a few meters before the duke`s fist met her face.

The fight carried on while the duke continued wreaking havoc within his own property; destroying railings, floors, walls and what little sympathy I had left for him. "I am high and mighty! It should be an honor for him to write a book about me!" exclaimed the duke. It was easy to settle that I had been summoned by one the villain characters in this world.

"You threatened him to write it!" replied the blonde furiously.

"Threatened him?" questioned the blue the details behind the event unfolding before me in not entirely clear, I was positive that this was another case of a member of the upper-class abusing his power by threatening those from a lower-class in society… _Wait, did the cat just talk?_

"So what? It's his own fault for refusing in the first place!" said the duke while curling his moustache with his fingers. I wasn't the only one feeling a growing animosity towards the duke as the blonde scowled at the duke intently. "I allowed him to write a book with my high and might self as the main character, but that idiot rejected the offer. That's why I told him that if he wouldn't write it, I'd have all his relatives thrown into jail! Boyoyoyo"

While describing his corrupted activities to the blonde, the duke had once again flung himself underground. This time the blonde was unable to avoid as the duke got a strong grasp onto her ankle. The duke still remained underground with the exception of his one arm sticking out. "In the end, he gave in and wrote it! But the fact that he rejected me once got me angry so I made him write it in a solitary cell for three years! Boyoyoyoyoyo! I crushed his pride as a distinguished writer!" said the duke, gloating in his disgusting victory. The duke wouldn't be arrogant for much longer; I've heard enough crap spewing out of his mouth.

Dashing out from the corner, I rushed over to the fight before anyone had enough time to react. Stretching out my right hand, I tightly latched onto the duke's wrist with enough strength to shatter rocks. It proved much more than the duke could handle as he could no longer hold onto the blonde's ankle.

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go!" whimpered the duke.

Heeding his calls I forcefully tore him straight out of the ground by his arm and slammed him back onto the surface like he was a ragdoll. "Done," I simply said. With that done, I quickly glanced behind my back towards the young blonde.

"Eek!" she quickly gasped with her arms held up in a defensively position covering her face. It was oddly cute and I might've lightened up if the duke hadn't opened up his mouth again.

"Y-y-y-you! Do you have what you're doing spirit! I'll have you erased off this planet and the spirit world for your treason!" shrieked the duke.

Still staring at the surprised blonde, I gave her a wry grin and said, "I'm sorry, but it looks like I'm going to have to steal the prize of hitting him from you." Tightening my fists, I turned back to the duke and drove it straight into his face. The feeling of shattering bones and teeth embraced my reinforced fists as it flattened the duke's plump face. I did not kill him though. The man was corrupted, there was no doubt about that, but villains such as these should be dealt with by whatever law enforcements this world has. Though it'd be satisfying to know that idiots such as the duke could be erased from this world, his retribution should be left to the justice that exists in this world.

"Who are you? Are you a Celestial Spirit?" asked the blonde warily. After I had knocked the duke unconscious, the blonde had fallen back onto all four and was currently moving away little by little in a crab position.

"My name is Shirou Emiya, and I can assure you I am one hundred percent human," I replied. Of course I wasn't going to tell her I wasn't actually from this world.

"Ahh… then what was that about? Nevermind forget it. My name is Lucy, and this here is Happy," she said with confidence.

"Aye!" shouted Happy while raising his arms up to show his acknowledgement. "What guild are you from?"

"Guild?" I asked raising an eyebrow. _Hahah… I'm having a conversation with a cat._

"Aye! Lucy, Mr. Emiya isn't in a guild, we don't have to share our reward!" said Happy while dancing around mischievously.

"Ah, Mr. Emiya, because you're obviously a capable mage, we assumed you would be a part of a guild," answered Lucy, probably because I still had a look of confusion on my face. It had to do more with the fact that there was a dancing talking cat in front of me rather than the notion of guilds. It was most likely that mages were usually a part of guilds, much like how some magus were a part of the Mage's Association back in my world.

"No I'm not a member of any guild as of yet, and please, just call me Shirou, I'm probably not much older than you are," I replied in a nonchalant manner.

"In that case, please call me Lucy!" she excitedly replied. "I just recently joined the well-known guild called Fairy Tail, joining a guild is a must if you want to be updated on jobs and requests! Not only do you get to save people from all sorts of trouble, it's a good way of making money! I'm sure you'd be welcome anytime in Fairy Ta…"

"Lucy! Happy! Are you both okay!" It was the pink-haired mage from before. He came sprinting passed me and came to a full stop in front of Lucy and Happy. After checking they were both alright, the pink-haired mage pointed his thumb back at me, "Who's the red man?"

"Natsu! He's a guildless mage who took out the duke in one punch!" exclaimed Happy.

"One punch? That means he's strong!" yelled out the pink-haired mage named Natsu. "Oi, if you're strong then I challenge you to a fi…" Before he had finished his sentence, I had already taken off, disappearing into the shadows of the sewers.

[Scene Break]

As much as I wanted to test my strength against the Fairy Tail mage known as Natsu, I had other things to take care of first. I had to somehow gain knowledge about the current world I am in without letting others know about who I am and about my abilities. I could've asked Lucy, but I wasn't completely sure I could trust her yet. The term 'mage' in this world is still unknown to me; there's no current proof that they all aren't like Duke of Evaroo who uses others for their own selfish gains.

Before exiting the mansion I took a quick detour to the kitchen. Like any other old-fashion kitchen back in my world, the food was easy to find. I wanted to cook up a meal fit for kings from the bountiful amounts of food the kitchen had available, but it'd be awkward to be found by the authorities raiding the duke's mansion to be using his kitchen. Devouring a quick loaf of bread and bringing some to go, I ran out of the mansion to be welcomed by the beautiful night sky. It was clearer than any sky I've ever bore witness too in Japan. This world must not be as technologically dependent as my world has been, because the starry skies were void of any pollution.

"It looks like being a mage in this world is much like an occupation, and joining a guild provides updates on those who need help…" I said out loud. If joining a guild was a good as it sounded so far, then I would seriously contemplate joining one. The last thing I heard from Lucy (not the money part) still repeated itself in my mind, '_Save people'. _No matter which time period I'm stuck in, what baggage I carry, what world I'm stuck in, I will always be live by that code.

Thinking about what course of action I would take from here on out, I continued running anywhere outside the eyes of civilization that my legs would carry me. It looks like I was camping outside tonight.


	3. Hero's Tail: Meet Team Shadow Gear!

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 2**

Author's note will now be at the bottom so I can talk about the things I write about.

I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.

[STORY START]

"Shirou Emiya, you are an idiot," I said irritably. Letting out a long sigh, I proceeded to observe my surroundings again. It's been over three days since I left the mansion belonging to the Duke of Evaroo, and right now I'm travelling across a mountain that never seemed to stop snowing. Even with my protective red cloak that diminishes harsh conditions from the external environment, it was still colder than anything I've experienced yet far. If the option of returning to the previous town was given to me, I would quickly jump at it. In the following morning after arriving in Earth Land, on a whim I headed in a random direction without memorizing the direction I had come from. I made the stupid mistake of not realizing the stars that made up this world's night sky was unlike mines, so I no longer had the navigational tools to retrace my steps. To avoid walking in circles around this land of blizzards, I've decided to walk only in the direction the sun rose from; if it was similar to my world, then I would be heading east.

It wasn't so bad if I thought about it though. There was still one thing keeping me sane in this god-awful place. Once nightfall ends and when the sun just rises beyond the horizon, an abundance of small plump rodents similar to rabbits begin making their mark in what I first believed to be a desolate land. They scavenged underneath the snow for food, which I eventually found to be a wide variety of vegetation and herbs. After stashing a clump of herbs I figured can be useful, I would then proceed to hunt down the rodents in order to satiate my hunger and my hobby of cooking. I traced my bow and a few normal arrows to do the job.

The previous two days had the same plan of action; I would capture and skin the animals and merely cook them over an open fire. Today would be different though, after collecting a whole assortment of herbs I deemed edible for the past two days, I had enough to rival the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. It's been too long since I've last truly cooked (less than a week), and now's the time to fix that. It was now almost evening and after setting up a small fire near the entrance of a cave with an interior that could fit everyone from my high school; I began preparing the dishes of meat from the rodents. After finishing, I began the most important step.

_Seek the purpose of the object  
Visualize its structure  
Input the composition of the object  
Replicate the process of its creation  
Surpass the manufacturing process_

"Trace on," I whispered underneath my breath. Within my mind I pictured an imaginary gun with the hammer cocked. When the trigger was pulled, a surge of power flowed within me and then projection of my desire was brought forth into the real world. It was a unique ability of mines known as 'Projection', but unlike normal Projection abilities, mine was capable of duplicating the object's entire history as well, therefore I would refer to it as tracing. This becomes exceedingly useful when it comes to replicating legendary weapons. The history of my intended object was not needed this time around though.

'_That's odd…'_ I thought to myself. While using my Projection ability, there was certainly a different feeling than when I normally used it. I'd have to think about it later though, because right now my mind was in an entirely different place.

Looking at the object whose graceful loop handles were now firmly grasped in my hands, I couldn't help but be stunned by its aesthetic appeal, "It's glorious…" Its black matte enamel coating, which protected its cast-iron construction from rusting, was gleaming against the rays of the sun, while its broad and smooth flat base, which allowed for a whole new limit in searing, looked to me as if to say 'perfection'.

What I had just projected was a state of the art cast-iron Dutch oven used for outdoor cooking such as when one goes camping. I haven't had much time to make an accurate judgment on the taste of all the available surrounding food, but I believe that today a new recipe will be created for mankind. Using the Dutch oven, it'll be possible to recreate a Japanese hot pot even in these conditions. Placing the large cooking pot down above the roaring fire I had lit, I then cracked my knuckles. And so, the battle that would require all my wit began.

[Scene Break]

It was delicious even by my own standards. Maybe it was because I haven't been eating anything good for the past couple days, but everything from the broth, to the unknown rodent meat was a perfect mix that melted in my mouth. As the smell coming from the half-empty pot drifted deeper down and outside the cave, I rested back against the melted ground and savoured the short moment of harmony. So much had happened in the past few days, it was still hard for me to wrap my head around. At times like this, it had to be okay to just relax and watch the snow dance about while three snow-covered figures who appeared to be half dead crawled towards you._ Sigh…_

Brushing off the now faraway dream of relaxing, I quickly stood straight up and rushed to the entrance of the cave where the three continued crawling. "Hey! Are you three alright?" I shouted, hoping for confirmation that they were human.

"Please… help us…." whimpered what sounded like a young male. Fear jolted my entire body as it quickly went numb.

"What happened? Tell me what happened!" I worriedly yelled. It hasn't even been a week since I arrived in this new world, and yet I might have to prepare for the worst. Nothing spelt despair better than the feeling of being helpless while watching the people in front of you die. Falling down onto my knees, I reached for the hand of one of the individuals.

"We're…" softly replying the one whose hand I grasped; it was another male. The male in front of me was wearing a large brown top hat, but besides that, I could not see any other features. Hardening my resolve, I steeled myself for what I was about to hear.

_GROWL~_

Three simultaneous growls shook the walls of the caves. I was starting to have a hard time deciding whether I really just heard that or if that was an illusion created by a build-up of stress. Either way, I turned my attention to the third individual who began shaking vigorously.

"We're so hungry!" a feminine voice screamed out. While the other two males kept their heads lowered to the ground, she was the first one whose face I could see. The owner of the voice was a young female by the looks of her cute innocent face. She had blue hair with two long locks in the front and a shorter back side which was tied up with a yellow bandana. Like the other two males, she was bundled up in a heavy fur-lined coat; it was a wonder how this young female could even move in such heavy attire. Lastly, another thing I noticed about this girl was her large eyes flowing with tears and her cheeks that were tinged with a scarlet red, which I suspected was not from the cold.

Throwing aside the hands I was formerly holding onto, I lazily got back up on my feet. The only thing preventing me from face palming myself at this moment was the thought that if I did, my palm would blow straight through my face from sheer agony. Still glaring down at the blue-haired female, I forced myself to give another one of my wry smiles.

"Come on in and help yourself," I said while I could literally feel steam being expelled from my body that was dissolving the snow around me.

As if nothing happened, the three sprung right up onto their feet to give each other high-fives. All while shouting, "Yay!" After their little cheerful celebration, the three of them advanced down to where the fire continued warming the contents of my Dutch oven.

"Oh right, introductions!" exclaimed the short blue-haired female. If she were to stand next to me, she'd be slightly under my shoulders. "My name is Levy McGarden."

"You can call me Jet," followed the one was donning the oversized top hat. He had bright orange hair that was combed back underneath his top hat. His thin eyebrows, sharp face and also his flattened nose gave him a very tough looking appearance; similar to delinquents you would see in the media.

"And I am Droy," said the other male. The man was a slightly taller than all of them, though still a little shorter than me. His taller height gave him a very lanky appearance, which his face also complimented due to its thin nature and visible cheek bones. He had black hair, with a tuft at the back jutting upwards. For some reason it reminded me of a seedling of a plant.

"Together we are… the one and only, Shadow Gear team of Fairy Tail!" shouted all three of them with a hint of pride. Levy stood in the middle with both her hands waving upwards, while Droy and Jet stood on either side imitating Kamen Rider's famous transformation stance.

They maintained those positions for over a few seconds, making it a little awkward. Perhaps they were waiting for something.

_CLAP~CLAP__CLAP_

With a very slow rhythm, I began clapping my hands. The three of them finally relaxed and displayed proud faces of joy. It's seems they have been working on that for quite some time now.

"Thank you, thank you," Levy said while bowing to an imaginary audience. "And what is your name?"

"Shirou Emiya, you can just call me Shirou. It's a pleasure to meet you all," I said with a pinch of sarcasm, it seemed I was still a little bitter about the heart attack they almost gave me a few moments ago. With a motion of my hand, I called them over, "Come on over and enjoy the food, I'll make some more while I'm at it."

Preparing more food took me approximately another half an hour, and after we all sat around the fire enjoying a bowl of soup with the make-shift ingredients I used, the bowls and utensils were provided by Levy's group by the way. Once again, I was in the presence of more Fairy Tail members. Did Fairy Tail guild have a vast number of members, or was meeting them merely just a coincidence?

"This is delicious! How could anyone conceive such a meal in a place like this?" questioned Levy. "I've never eaten anything like this even back in Magnolia Town! Tell me Shirou, how you learnt to cook like this!"

"Hahah… Thank you," I weakly said while scratching the back of my head. I've always been weak to such direct compliments. "I've been alone for most of my life after my father died so for as long as I can remember, I've been cooking for myself."

"Ahh… I'm sorry for bringing sad memories," said Levy apologetically.

I shook my head and smiled lightly at Levy. I had accidently blurted a bit about my sad past without even realizing it would completely ruin the mood. I made a quick note to myself to avoid doing that again. Having lost contact with a lot of people after deciding the route I would take back in my old world, I guess I've lost a bit of my once sociable self. _I have to fix this_.

"Don't worry about it, it's been a long time and I've had a lot of friends looking after me back then!" Levy returned the smile as I said that. "Since we're on the topic of interests and hobbies, do you three have any?"

A glint could be seen in Levy's eyes; she raised her index finger and thumb underneath her chin and flashed me a grin.

"I have only one great joy in life, and that is reading! There is not a single book in all of Fiore that I know of that has escaped being read by me!" she said while looking up towards the ceiling of the cave. She then threw her right hand up into the air as if to grasp something. "My dream in life is to read every single book in all of Earth Land!"

"Hahah… that's wonderful."

"My goal in life is to one day be a movie star that'll win the hearts of every female!" Jet proudly stated as he smirked smugly.

"As if that will ever happen... My dream's a lot more realistic, one day I hope to open up a botanical garden. Nothing beats gardening!" Droy expressed his simple yet admirable wish.

"Dreams are meant to outrageous!" Jet laughed.

Despite the differences in their desires and wishes, the three of them were still brought together regardless. Just by looking at their meaningless banters and interactions with one another, one could tell that these three were near inseparable.

"And how about you Shirou? Any other hobbies besides cooking?" Levy asked over the two whom were bickering.

"Hmm, I used to be a part of an archery club, but I quit after some time," I still do 'practice' archery, but I'll hold out on that information for now. "I'm not sure if this is a hobby, but I particularly enjoy doing any sort of housework. Whether it is cleaning or fixing appliances."

"Doing housework?"

"Yes, I even once held the nickname 'Fake Janitor'," chuckling as I recalled my memories.

"I'm sure you'd be the perfect husband!" giggled Levy.

Those words must've been taboo for the likes of Droy and Jet, because the very next second a strong aura of killing intent gushed out of the both of them. Both Droy and Jet, as if on cue, stood up and sat down right beside me.

"Hey you bastard, you're a nice guy and all, but don't you dare make a move on Levy," quietly whispered Droy so Levy couldn't hear. His face was brought so close that I could smell his breath that reeked of the food he just consumed and his own scent; it was a little uncomfortable.

"Right, what he said, Levy's a part of Shadow Gear, she doesn't need any other guy in her life," eerily smiled Jet as he patted my back.

I gave a big grin when I realized what these two were going on about. I casually waved them off to show that it was not going to be a problem. Still, I wasn't going to let it end just like this.

"So which one of you does Levy love?" I innocently asked. It seemed that those words did the trick; no longer were they glaring at me, but instead their gazes were directed at each other. Their eyes turned demonic and even sparks flew in between their eyes. And before I knew it, both of them were at each other's throats.

"You bastard! Don't look at me like you think you've won!" shouted Droy as he threw a right hook across Jet's face. The punch was strong enough the send Jet's head reeling back, but it seemed to do little effect.

"Just because you got to sit beside her on the carriage yesterday, doesn't mean you have the upper-hand now! In fact, here have an upper-hand from me, free of charge!" Jet retorted and quickly countered with an uppercut straight to the gut of Droy; knocking the wind right out of his lungs.

"Now you've done it!"

"Take this!"

I resumed eating the remaining soup in my bowl as I enjoyed the new entertainment in front of me. Even though they probably weren't serious on killing each other, they still demonstrated that they were quite adept fighters from the amounts of hits they were taking and landing. This sure beat the solitary meal I was having alone before; when else were you able to enjoy an old-fashioned brawl while sipping on hot soup as a blizzard rages on outside. Smiling at my new fortunate amusement I saw Levy from the corner of my eye frantically trying to break the two of them up, completely unaware of why they were fighting in the first place.

[Scene Break]

"So Shirou, what brings you out here to Mt. Hakobe in the middle of a blizzard?" asked Droy while downing his fifth bowl.

The fight between Droy and Jet had ended moments ago, and now the both of them were covered with bruises as well as massive bumps on their faces. I swear, even their bumps had bumps. At first after seeing the outcome of the fight, it was hard not to laugh at their appearances, but after the occasional bursts of chuckles I had, I was now used to it.

"I'll be honest; I'm looking for something, but I'm not from around here and got lost after just arriving," I replied. I was looking for a purpose here in this new world, and not being from around here was also true, just that it was a big understatement. "It's embarrassing to say, but for now my main priority is getting out of this place and finding civilization of some sort."

"Not from around here? You're not an inhabitant of Fiore?" asked Levy with sparkling eyes. "You see, I've recently been reading all about other regions and countries. Not only is it fascinating to learn how distinct our cultures are from one another, there's a lot of knowledge we can bring into our own!"

"Like your cooking for example!" laughed Jet.

"Yes! That's why I was hoping if you would share some of your history and knowledge about your homeland!" said Levy who didn't bother concealing her excitement. Without further ado, Levy seized my hand and pleaded with her glistening eyes.

There was no doubt that at this moment, two malicious pairs of eyes fixed their attention towards me. I could feel their burning gazes tearing through me as sweat began dripping from the back of neck. _Sigh… How was I going to get out of this misunderstanding?_

"…"

My eyes narrowed as something caught my attention. Straining my ears to listen past the howling winds coming from outside, I had used Reinforcement on my ears to increase the limits of my hearing. What I heard wasn't to my liking. If this was the solution of my previous problems brought forth by Levy, then I take it back.

The sound of thunderous footsteps and a large number of them continued to increase in volume. They were currently heading in our direction.

"Something's coming," realizing the tension in my voice, the three of them hurried to a stand.

"What is it?" Levy asked in a serious tone.

"I'm not sure, but there are a lot of them."

At this point, the sound of an imminent force could now be heard without increasing my sense of hearing. The tremors created from the approaching footsteps amplified as we all stood waiting. These footsteps could not belong to anything human. I remained poised and ready; both my arms were outstretched and ready to trace a weapon. Within my mind the image of a gun had its hammer cocked and was ready to release its imaginary bullet at any given moment.

The surrounding rocks and pebbles shook violently and vibrations could be felt from every part of the floor. They would be here any second now.

"We haven't talked about it yet, but the reason we're here is because of our mission. We took on a job to vanquish the Vulcans inhabiting this area of Mt. Hakobe due to recent notifications about attacks on passersby and a large amount of requests to search for missing people," explained Droy, seemingly guessing the identity of our visitors.

"It looks like we got more than we bargained for though…" said Jet.

The large number of the so called Vulcans that were previously charging straight towards us arrived. They were large, apelike monsters that were at least three times my height and had fists the size of semi-truck tires. The fur covering their arms and shoulder area were coloured white, while the rest of their bodies were a dark shade of gray. Though their lower body looked skinny, they made up for it by having large muscular torsos and arms that looked powerful enough to snap a tree like a twig. The tips of their ears and head were both pointed, but what struck out most were their no-pupil white eyes and their sinister smiles. They looked eager to fight.

They all entered through different tunnels that were found deeper in the cave. When all the Vulcans entered the large area of the cave we were present in, their numbers consisted of over a hundred of them, spreading across one from side of the cave to the other. Back in my world, it was completely normal to see primates forming large groups and coalitions in order to survive in some of the harsh environments that they inhabited. Seeing the scene before me was something on a whole new level; over a hundred giant sized primate lookalikes had suddenly formed one massive coordinated group that looked like it could crush an army.

"Shirou, stay back, we will protect you no matter what happens," whispered Levy. The three of them motioned to form a wall in front of me, blocking the path of the army of Vulcans. "This is our duty as members of Fairy Tail!"

Before I could reassure them that I was more than capable of protecting myself, something occurred that caught me entirely off-guard.

"We no like men, we like little girl," it came from one of the Vulcans. _Seriously, what's with this world and talking animals?_ To top it off, these sounded like perverted old men.

"You'll have to get through us first!" shouted Droy with his fist shaking in the air.

"You're messing with the wrong team here you monsters," declared Jet.

"Tiny man can try, but we beat them like the others who we see before, huhuhu," taunted the Vulcan.

"How many have you already killed?" cried out Levy. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she remained strong in her stance.

"Kill men and take girl," ordered the Vulcan, completely ignoring Levy's cry.

The rest of the Vulcans heeded its words. Without a second to spare, the Vulcans began charging in waves at the three member wall.

_Show me what you can do Fairy Tail mages._ I would of course intervene if any of them were at risk of being hurt.

Jet was first to move and quickly separated from the group to rush straight on ahead at the charging Vulcans.

"High Speed!" Jet's movements suddenly blurred and he swiftly attacked one of the Vulcans with a solid kick that landed underneath one of the Vulcan's face. The Vulcan was knocked up into the air, flying over its surprised comrades. "I ain't done yet!"

It seemed Jet's abilities give him speed that surpasses what is normally possible. The Vulcans had no way of tracking Jet's movements and quickly became sitting ducks.

"Falcon Heavenward!" Jet's run got a sudden burst of speed that I almost couldn't follow; afterwards he leapt up into the air to deliver a jump kick at his targeted Vulcan. When contact was made between the Vulcan's skull and Jet's foot; the sickening sound of bone cracking rang through the air. The Vulcan was sent tumbling backwards, taking out any of the Vulcans behind it.

Levy wasn't missing out on any of the action either.

"Solid Script: Fire!" She first crossed her outstretched arms and then spun around while spreading out her arms. The word "FIRE" surprisingly appeared right above her in comical blue color text; only to disappear in a flood of blue flames. The eruption of fire made its way to the front lines of the Vulcans, scorching two of them in the process leaving them as a charred mess.

"Solid Scipt: Hole!" Crossing her arms and then spreading them out once again in a fluid motion, this time she wrote out the word "HOLE" where the Vulcans were running. An enormous hole appeared right when the Vulcans stampeded over it. Because there was no way of avoiding it, at least three Vulcans were removed from the battle after descending down the hole.

_At least now I have a better sense of just how much Levy truly love reading, she even incorporates it into her own magic! _It was actually quite the spectacle to see.

Droy's abilities were nothing to scoff at either. Inside his coat he was keeping a container full of seeds. In one quick motion, he grabbed a handful and tossed them to the ground close to the Vulcans.

"Knuckle Plants!" shouted Droy. Vines grew from each of the thrown seeds, and at the tip of each vine were fists. The fists twisted and twined together and eventually made its way to the body of the Vulcans. They were pummeled down and beaten to a pulp. It was actually painful to look at; a bunch of fists coming out of plants were mercilessly raining down on the Vulcans, breaking bones and teeth.

The on-going battle continued for half an hour. Each time one of the Vulcans was beaten down, another from behind would take its place. At this point in time, still over seventy Vulcans remained.

It was impressive that the three of them were able to hold back the Vulcans for such a long time. Each one of their desires that they had mentioned to me before was now making sense. The yearning for knowledge resulted in Levy's abilties, the craving of speed developed into Jet's power and the longing to sprout towards the skies led Droy to cultivate his skills with plants.

But even now, sweat could be seen on each of their faces and their movements have slowed a lot. Only a few dozen Vulcans had been defeated, I wasn't sure they could last for much longer.

Droy was summoning smaller amount of plants each time he used his magic. Levy's power behind her skills no longer damaged the Vulcans as much as they did before, and she had a larger delay time between skills. Jet's magic allowed him to enhance his speed and strength of his body, but he was now attacking and dodging at a more human rate.

"Dammit, we've underestimated these monsters. There's just too many of them for us to handle," said Jet while jumping back a considerable distance from the front. "Shirou, get out of here now. We'll hold them off as long as we can."

I was at a loss for words; usually in these situations the roles would be reversed. Despite possibly being near their death beds, the only thing that mattered to them was at least assuring that I would survive. It was something I truly respected.

"Kyah!" it was a scream from Levy. She was no longer able to cast a spell fast enough to defend against the incoming Vulcans.

"Shi-" before Jet could finish, I had already taken off.

The image of a gun being fired flashed through my mind. Prana surged in my circuits as I first used Reinforcement on my own body. Again, an unfamiliar feeling was felt throughout my circuits. Ignoring it, I pressed on towards Levy. I was not confident enough to say I dashed at a speed that matched what Jet was capable of, but now that he could barely match an average person, it was more than enough.

"Trace on," two sword materialized in my hands. The darkened Kanshou and the dazzling Bakuya were now firmly grasped in my hands; becoming extensions of my body. I was so use to carrying these two weapons that holding them felt akin to wearing perfect fitting gloves.

The few Vulcans were now face to face with Levy. Levy had brought her arms up across her face in a defensive position while tightly closing her eyes as one of the Vulcans began reaching down to grab her.

In this critical moment I sprung my body upwards slightly above ground, twisting as I readied my blade towards the Vulcan's underside. When my blade made connection with the underbelly of the beast, I forced the black blade Kanshou upwards, slicing through rugged skin. Still keeping the drive of my jump, I spun around while slashing downwards perpendicular to my first slash with the white blade Bakuya. The overall damage on the beast was a bloodied cross that extended almost half its body.

"!" before the Vulcan could voice its unexpected pain, I followed my attack, lunging towards the Vulcan with a side kick to the core of bloodied wound on its body. A gushing noise could be heard as my steel-toed boot met the bloodied gash of the Vulcan. The kick had required a lot of force to affect the giant beast, but I had infused enough power to propel the Vulcan into its cohorts, sending them flying metres away.

Before the Vulcans and its companions could recover from my surprise entrance into the rumble, I erased Bakuya and Kanshou to scoop up Levy into my arms. _This was called the 'princess carry' I believe, whenever I did it to Rin or any other girl, it seemed to have the effect of making them blush. To this day, I never understood why._

"Shirou!" cried out Levy. It seems Levy was no exception as she flailed about in my arms; her cheeks became dyed in a pink hue.

"I've seen Jet, Droy and you, Levy, put your lives on the line to protect me. Let me return the favour by protecting all three of you now," I said, smiling gently and looking into her wide eyes. Within a couple seconds, I moved back to the entrance of the cave where Jet could be seen in awe with blank eyes and jaw extending all the way to the floor. "Levy, could you get Droy to retreat back to the entrance with you and Jet for me? I'm not sure if he'd listen to me."

Levy feverishly nodded and called out, "Droy! We're pulling a strategic retreat! Shirou has a plan!"

Droy shot up a thumb to confirm that he had heard, but not before one last move it seemed.

"Chain Plant!" yelled out Droy. From inside his coat, Droy grabbed another batch of seeds and threw them at the ground in front of the Vulcans. A forest of vines emerged from the ground which stretched straight across the cave walls. The wall of green was able to temporarily slow down the Vulcans whereas Droy was able to make his withdrawal back to the three of us.

"What's the plan? My magic's running low; we're going to end up being Vulcan food at this rate!" said Droy, frustration clearly in his voice.

The sounds of vines being torn apart progressively got louder. The four of us stood facing each other, with the exception of Jet whose jaw was still on the floor.

I slowly walked past Droy to face the imminent Vulcans, "Leave everything to me."

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy!"

Droy lifted up his hand in a gesture to stop me. Without looking back, I advanced forward in a sprint.

"I am the bone of my sword," my words echoed off the walls of the cave. It was the first line of an aria I used to strengthen my projections onto the real world.

Red particles of light began accumulating in my hand, forming a bloody red spear. It was the legendary weapon used by the hero Cú Chulainn whose history was befitting of the spears dreadful colour.

"Requip magic?" I heard Levy say.

With the help of my reinforced legs I leapt high into the air, letting the momentum of my sprint carry me onward. I could feel the deadly spear draining the prana within me and converting it into energy that it would soon release. The spear itself was a Noble Phantasm capable of being an anti-army type or an anti-unit type which made it versatile in its uses. The anti-unit type ability of the spear is able to distort the laws of causality itself; where the act of thrusting the spear is fundamentally the act of piercing your opponent's heart. I had the privilege of finding this out from the owner of the spear himself.

The anti-army type ability of the spear allows the spear to split itself into a large number of individual spears when it is thrown; each capable of creating large crater sized destruction. There was no doubt that I was going to take advantage of this ability.

Below me were close to a hundred Vulcans that proved to be dangerous to humans, and they just broke free of the wall of vines placed by Droy.

I arched my back and moved my arm holding the spear in a position similar to drawing a bow. With a thunderous roar, I shouted out the cursed spear's name.

"Gáe Bolg!" And with all my might, I shot my arm forward, hurling the spear downward towards the mass of enemies.

The Noble Phantasm split into thirty radiant spears of light that was on track to strike the Vulcans. Chaos reigned amongst the remaining Vulcans as they tried avoiding the mass of spears; it seemed they recognized the incoming spears as a threat to their existence. It was too late though, before any of them could make a move, the hail of red rain was upon them.

Explosions of light erupted across the vicinity where the Vulcans had briefly stationed themselves. There were no screams, no pleas for help, no rage that could be heard, it was all over before they could do any of that. I landed on the ground softly and scanned the area for any enemies that may have survived. In front of me, a cloud of snow and dust covered my vision, making impossible to determine by sight alone. I was fairly certain that they have all been vanquished, after all I could no longer sense any sort of animosity. I decided to at least wait until there was no doubt.

While I was waiting, I decided to think something over. Earlier in the day when I first projected the Dutch oven and later on when I had traced Bakuya and Kanshou there was something different. It felt a lot less taxing then it should've. After tracing Gáe Bolg and using its ability, I was now certain.

The way magecraft works in this world differs completely from how it did my world. Due to the presence of guilds and the mages that encompasses them all throughout Earth Land, it was possible that magecraft did not work in terms of 'mysteries'. The general public accepted and even used magecraft in their daily lives; they didn't require more advanced science, instead magecraft could be used to perform even the simplest of tasks. Back in my world, magecraft was a violation of natural processes which could be obtained by other means. When magecraft is invoked, it interferes with nature itself, but from what I was feeling, this world seemed to have accepted magecraft to a large extent. The greater interference caused by the magecraft, the more prana the practitioner would need to use in order for it to work correctly. There was less prana that was being consumed when using my magecraft, which seemed to be a result of this world not considering it much of an interference. In other words, this world considered magecraft more of a natural process than mine did. To use Gáe Bolg's ability, an intense consumption of prana was required. To use Gáe Bolg's ability even once back in my world, I would have been left with little to no energy, but here I am still alive and ready for more. From what I could tell with my current levels of prana remaining, I could still trace numerous amounts of Noble Phantasms.

_I guess that explains why my Dutch oven is still sitting near the entrance._ Because my projections interfered with the nature of this world to such a little degree, I wouldn't be surprised if my projections could last days on end. _Looks I don't have to be as wary about my prana levels as I did before._

After a while, the dust settled down and the damage could be accessed. The cave was in shambles caused by the destruction from the Noble Phantasm I had used. From the utter force of impact that the legendary spear had created, the roof of the cave where the Vulcans had come from had collapsed, making it impassable. At least now nothing could come from inside the caves. The bodies of the Vulcans lay randomly scattered across the floors of the cave and in between them were large craters created by the spear.

I nodded my head and made a one-hundred eighty degree turn, and started heading back towards the entrance of the cave.

"Hey is everyone alri…"

Jet was still the same like when I left him, but now both Droy and Levy had imitated the same expression as him.

"Hello?"

I decided to move closer to them, and when I did all three of them collapsed backwards consecutively, fainting on the spot.

"I guess this was all too much for them in one day."

[Scene Break]

All three of them suddenly sat right up calling my name, scaring the hell out of me.

"Shirou!" the three of them yelled.

"I just had a dream that you were some sort of powerful wizard that could annihilate a large group of Vulcans in one shot!" said Levy, almost biting her tongue by how much she was talking.

"You had the same dream too, Levy?" replied Jet and Droy.

"Hahah, what a coincidence!" answered Levy. "What would be the chances of finding an incredible wizard in the middle of nowhere? Shirou's just a kind traveler and a wonderful cook, right?"

The three of them looked at me, each waiting for me to confirm their thoughts.

"Umm... surprise?" I indicated with my thumb at the scene behind me. Still there were the beaten and tattered bodies of over a hundred Vulcans.

"It was real!" the three of them said amazed.

"It's hard to believe you're not from the country of Fiore! Shirou, if you ever plan on joining a guild, please consider joining Fairy Tail! If someone like you were to join, our guild would get even stronger! Not to mention, you're a wonderful cook!" exclaimed Jet.

"I agree! Our guild does not have a designated cook. Heh… that would be perfect, we'd have one of the strongest men making lunch… That would be the strongest lunch!" It seemed Droy was still in a dream world.

"That sounds mighty delicious!" said Levy in a daze.

I raised an eyebrow after I could no longer follow what they talking about.

"I'm still contemplating about whether to join a guild or not, but after meeting you three, if there's any guild I would ever join, it'd be Fairy Tail," I honestly said. I haven't surveyed any of the other guilds yet, but if Fairy Tail was made up of mages like Levy, Jet and Droy then I would have no problem joining.

"Shirou…" sobbed the three of them. Tears continued flowing down their faces as they tried to wipe them away.

"Hey, I'm glad you think so highly of me, but first things first, we have to clean up the mess we made," I said, hinting at the bodies of the Vulcans. It would seriously appall and frighten just about anyone if they were to set foot in a cave only to see the bodies of a hundred Vulcans scattered all over.

"Mmm!" we all nodded and headed towards the once fearsome group of Vulcans.

"…"

I should've already been used to being surprised from everything that has happened today. But nothing of this caliber has happened as of yet.

"Wh-What's going on?" shouted Droy in confusion.

All the Vulcans in the cave seemed to be slowly dissolving. I beckoned ahead, ready to intervene in case anything happened.

"The Vulcans are becoming human!" said Jet.

"No way…" was all I could muster.

Before us, all the Vulcans were changing to the shapes of humans of all ages and sizes. There were the elderly and there were even little children. They were all alive…

"Ah! I've read about this. The Vulcans have a special ability known as 'Take-over' which is a unique kind of magic that allows them to use the bodies and souls of weakened or injured humans to gain an increase in strength. It's been said that when a human's body is taken over, their entire body is spiritualized and condensed into their soul. The reason why Shirou's destructive attack didn't kill the actual humans was because the damage was taken by the Vulcans, while the bodies of the humans were within their own souls which were being used to power up the Vulcans. After the Vulcans were killed by Shirou, the spell trapping the human body within the soul was released, and here they are undamaged by the previous attack!" said Levy, carefully analyzing the situation. This is why it was always useful to have someone with a lot of information in the group. "If the 'Take-over' is uninterrupted for about a month; the body and soul of the individual is completely consumed by the Vulcan. It looks like we made it on time!" said Levy, visibly happy.

"P-p-please... please tell me if my son, William, is okay. He's ten years old with short black hair and an earring on the right ear," cried out a middle aged man. He was bruised from top to bottom. His arm looked to have been punctured by a sharp object and his lips her cut and dry. His face looked like it had repeatedly taken blows; it was shocking that he could even still talk. Despite being the only one of the group who was bleeding and in the worst condition, he was the first one to speak up.

"Droy, Jet! Help me stop his bleeding!" shouted Levy while wrapping the man's wounded arm with her yellow bandana.

Meanwhile I decided to look for the missing child of the man. It was a wonder that the damage inflicted on the Vulcans did not appear on any of the humans. Everyone looked like they were sleeping peacefully, even if they were once close to death. It was amazing to see that through our efforts, the lives of over a hundred innocent people were saved and now were resting on the ground.

A warm and peaceful feeling was floating within me. No longer was I annoyed about being on this mountain or distraught about becoming lost; the only thing that mattered to me right now was that I and the Fairy Tail mages saved these people.

I scanned the grounds for anyone resembling the child's description. There were very few children thankfully, and it was just a matter of time before I discovered the child snoring softly in a deep sleep. I walked over to the child and carefully picked him up in my arms without disturbing his slumber.

The only sounds that could be heard was the storm still blowing outside the cave and the shifting of clothes from Droy, Jet and Levy tending to the hurt man.

"He's okay," I said, breaking the silence. I gently placed the child next to the man.

"Ah…" words could not escape his mouth even if he tried. The man looked at his child, opening and closing his mouth to try and force out words; only gasps and empty breaths could be heard. Taking his uninjured arm, the man placed his shaking hands on top of the young boy's forehead.

"Papa…?" The child had woken up after the man placed his hand on top of his forehead.

It was as if this was to key to unlocking the man's locked up emotion, because the next second, everything came out.

"Thank god… Thank god…" tears streamed down the man's face, soaking his dry face. The man sat up despite his injuries and embraced his child with his one good hand. "I'm sorry William, I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you. I'm sorry I had let you experience all of that. But it's okay now, everything will be alright. Our heroes have come to save the day."

The man looked at the four of us with his teary eyes and weak smile; it was the thankful face of a father who just witnessed his child being saved from death. It was a pure form of happiness.

"No… we were just doing our job," said Levy while wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"That doesn't matter. In my eyes and surely every other individual here who were victims of the Vulcans, we will forever be in your debt. Thank you so much, our heroes..."

"Thank you!" said the child named William weakly, before falling back asleep.

"No problem, your thanks is enough," I kindly said. I closed my eyes and embraced the current fleeting emotion I was experiencing.

_This is what I live for_.

[Scene Break]

The long night was over and now the sun was making its grand entrance into the sky. The blizzard was gone, and only sunshine awaited us. By now everyone was wide awake. It has been a long time since everyone had a decent meal, and of course the cooking duties fell upon me.

After everyone ate a small meal, we decided it was best if we left early to find treatment for the injured. Levy told me the closest town with a hospital was in a place called 'Clover Town', and that was where they were going to escort the people to.

"Shirou, the closest city from here is a place called 'Oshibana'; it also happens to be one of the largest commercial cities in Fiore, so chances are, whatever you're looking for will be there!" explained Levy while showing me directions. "Our guild is in Magnolia City, so please drop by once you're finished with your business!"

"Let me just remind you that if you're ever looking for a guild, Fairy Tail's got its doors open for ya!" said Jet. He then patted me on my shoulder.

"Shirou, you're definitely one of a kind..." Droy said respectfully. "Let me taste your cooking again one day!"

I thanked them for everything. It wasn't every day that you met genuinely good people such as those three. I sincerely hoped that I would meet them again in the future.

I separated from the large travelling group and walked a different direction that led to the city called Oshibana. The orange color of the rising sun in the sky was nearly gone, leaving a clear blue sky.

"Thank you big-brother Shirou!" it was the voice of the child William that rang out through the cold air. The child waved back and widely grinned as he sat on top of his father's shoulders.

I waved my hand back at the group moving further away and returned on course.

"Fairy Tail huh?" I was becoming more and more interested with the guild. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out one day."

I glanced up at the beautiful crystal skies and continued on my journey smiling.

**Chapter 2 End**

Author Notes:

Let me start by saying, wow, I never realized how long it took to write a chapter; kudos to all the authors that can write a long one.

Now on to the story content –

After analyzing the map of Fiore, I looked at how I could somehow get Shirou to arrive at Oshibana (you can probably guess why). From the Duke of Evaroo's mansion, heading East would do the job, but not without a detour in Mt. Hakobe.

The little Manchu Han Imperial Feast reference, I had actually gotten from MuvLuv. Just wanted to point that out.

Droy is seen as a food loving pig because he eventually becomes one anyway.

I needed to build a relationship between Shirou and Team Shadow Gear because of a future scenario which I have many ideas for already!

Macau is able to take on 19 Vulcans, so hopefully my powerlevels weren't wrong this time!

Last but not least, I needed to somehow give this human Shirou a power boost. The magic used in Earth Land is extremely flashy and powerful at the same time. Natsu is seen spewing out fire for hours on end; taking advantage of this I decided that all this was possible because the prana-like energy in this world was more efficient. This way Shirou can stand face to face with the strongest mages without losing due to having no energy left. Hopefully it isn't too much of a stretch.

Once again, thank you so much for reading. If you see any mistakes, wrong information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	4. Hero's Tail: Lullaby

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 3**

[STORY START]

It was a sunny afternoon with few clouds adorning the blue sky with its presence. The cheerful and beautiful skies were much like a reflection of my own heart at the moment. For the first time in days, there wasn't a single speck of snow wherever I looked; the realization was enough to make me shed tears, metaphorically.

"So this is what a city in this world looks like," I had finally arrived in the city known as Oshibana. The city itself reminded me of an early 20th century Europe; the architecture and infrastructure were very similar and there were even old-fashioned automobiles zooming by on the streets. This city really felt like I had taken a step back in time from my own world rather than being transferred to another one. Everything was just like how I imagined the early 20th century to be except for one thing. Humans weren't the only creatures roaming the cities, and I don't mean pets. Occasionally, the faces of strange amphibians or mammals with a humanoid form would grace me with its presence. It was hard not to be on edge, I was too used to the fact that non-human intelligent life forms would usually be after my life. Still, it was revolutionary for me to see the union between humankind and other magical creatures. There was harmony between magic and humans; something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime.

The buildings for the most part were made of wood, while some of the more significant looking buildings were made of concrete. Strangely enough, the cars didn't seem to be running on any sort of fuel; could these people have already moved on to using electric powered cars? Highly unlikely, they didn't even seem to have any sorts of technologies that rely on electricity. There were a lack of a flashy sign and billboards, there wasn't anything requiring much basic knowledge to use and it didn't look like they had anything like a credit card. It was a very much like a primitive form of society back in my world. Just the way I liked it. It was a field day for me once I realized that all other cities in Earth Land were probably comparable to Oshibana.

'_If only Rin could see this_,' for someone like me who could do better without technology and Rin who was basically a monkey when it came to technology, this would be the ideal life for us. Earth Land seemed to be a society built around the fusion of magic and physical labor to help people in their everyday lives, the complete opposite of my world where magic was a sworn secrecy.

There was one time when both I and Rin were required to setup our automated voicemail for the house. I had insisted on helping her set it up, but with her strong sense of pride, she would have none of that. It was unlike any battle I've ever bore witness too. At the apex of the battle, Rin had developed a pent up level of frustration that she could no longer hold back. If it wasn't' for me locking up her arms with my own so she couldn't cast a spell, she would've blew up the phone and probably the house too, thus eliminating all the hard work we've accomplished yet far. Thinking about it made me laugh but at the same time I could feel the banging headache I had back then.

I chuckled silently to myself as I recalled one of my more ridiculous memories with Rin. Despite all the fun we had together, there was still a looming distance between us. Both I and Rin prioritized out duties more than our relationship with each other, and there was also the fact that one day I might disappear. Back then, I was always prepared for the day where I would be separated from Rin forever. But now that it has happened, I couldn't help but feel like something within me was missing. Rin was the one who pointed out my mistakes, Rin was the one who punished me when I was doing something stupid and Rin was the one who made me truly feel human.

'_I hope you're well Rin, and don't worry about me, I'll do what I have always been doing,' _I thought to myself_. 'I just wish I could've at least told you goodbye…'_

I closed my eyes and dispelled the feeling of regret that was making its way into my heart. I couldn't regret now, not after promising myself that I would never regret anything I do.

_I have to get moving_. I kept the thoughts out of my mind by taking a step forward and moving back on track. I had to accomplish the reason I came to this city in the first place; I needed information about this world that I was currently in and a way for me to achieve my goals. I was sure this world had such things as public libraries, after all the Duke of Evaroo had his own personal one, and Levy would definitely need a place to somehow read all her books. I just hope books were accessible to anyone, and not kept hidden like most magic related books back in my world.

[Scene Break]

It took me over half an hour before I could finally find a library. It was disguised just like any of the other buildings, which didn't help at all. Besides the little sign on door that said 'Library' is was nearly impossible to differentiate it from any of the other buildings. Heaving a sigh, I pushed onward into the library.

After entering the library, I asked the librarian if there were any basic history books about Earth Land. She told me the only book was in the kid's section of the library. I quickly grabbed the book and found a table to sit at. I wasn't allowed to take the book out of the section without a library card, so I was left with no choice but to read it here. The chairs and table were coloured in all sorts of bright neon colours. The chair was definitely midget size and the table was low enough where my knees would hit the edge if I tried moving in. Strangely enough, everyone either took their kids and moved to another location further away or avoided the area I was seated at altogether.

"Don't look at him," or "Disgusting," I heard some of the mothers say. I guess it wasn't natural that a grown man would suddenly sit by himself at a table meant for little infants. I felt my pride and ego being tossed out the window. I gave another long sigh, which I seemed to be doing a lot as of late, and went back to my business.

I noticed when I got to observe Levy's fighting abilities; the words she created for her spells were all in English. By that reason, I was betting on that the writing in this world was also in English. It seemed my intuition was true, because the first book, 'History and Magic of Fiore for Dummies', which I opened, was written entirely in English. After my time at the Clock Tower with Rin, I had become very fluent are both reading and writing English. It felt like quite the accomplishment for me, considering I never did as good as I wanted to in English back in high school. Tossing that thought aside, I began thinking about something else. This world was too good to be true; the people spoke in Japanese and the writing was in English, both which I was fairly confident in. Not only that, but magic appears to be quite accepted in this world, whereas back in my world, the minute you leaked out information regarding anything magic related, you'd be hunted down to the ends of the Earth. It was too much of a coincidence how perfectly I fit into this world, but thinking about it anymore would lead to a massive headache so I decided to just take it how it was. Opening up the book, I began my little study session.

The following was what I got out of the book full of cartoon pictures and farm animals that were narrating the information.

_Fiore is a small peninsula in the west and one of the smaller countries in Earth Land. It has a population of approximately seventeen million. The capital of Fiore is a city called Crocus, and the currency they use is termed 'Jewels'. Only ten percent of people can use magic, while the rest do not have to ability or are unwilling to reveal that they can use it. Magic power is the energy which allows mages to use the magic that they use. This energy is called Eternano which fills up a mages hypothetical container in their bodies that is used up when using magic. _

_The system of rule in Fiore is currently a monarchy with a King, and a government beneath him. The government controls the Magic Council which basically coordinates the guilds and anyone capable of using magic. This means they have the authority to apprehend and trial any mage they think has committed a crime. The Magic Council also has the right to appoint a mage to being one of the ten Wizard Saints, which is the title given to the ten most powerful mages. It should be noted that the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar, was also one of the Wizard Saints._

_There are three types of guilds; legal, dark and independent. Legal guilds are guilds acknowledged by the Magic Council, which dark and independent guilds are not. Dark guilds are basically the criminal organizations of mages. Guilds serve the purpose of supplying jobs for mages to earn money. The type of job one may take ranges immensely; they can be anything from looking for a lost cat to exterminating demons on a volcano. They also serve as protection units against any threats to the security of the country._

'_Well that's that,' _I thought to myself. I had now confirmed that being in a guild would serve to help my goals of protecting the innocents. _'Looks like I'm going to be paying Fairy Tail a visit after all.'_

Before separating from the group at Mt. Hakobe, Levy had said that their guild was located in a city called Magnolia. I flipped to the pages in the book with a map of the country of Fiore and looked at the distances I would be facing. It wasn't too bad, by foot it'd take approximately the same amount of time it took me to arrive in Oshibana. I could take the train, but I currently had no money to pay it off, and I certainly wasn't going to sneak on.

"Guess I should be preparing for another trip. At least this time there was no mountain to cross," I said out loud smiling to myself. I stood up from the tiny chair to return the book and exited the library; all while pretending not to notice the vast amount of stares I was receiving.

[Scene Break]

Outside the library, the civilian were becoming more and more excited about something. The normal atmosphere of people minding their own business was now replaced by people frantically shouting at one another while all running in one direction.

"Hey, there's something big happening down at the station!" one of the civilians said. "Let's check it out!"

Perhaps it was a parade or festival of some sort? It would be a good idea to check it out to help understand their culture and traditions a little more. Also if it really was a festival, there's a good chance to steal the recipes of their foods and dishes that they would make. As unpleasant as it sounds, I couldn't help it. Cooking was another side of my life that I couldn't live without, and you know what? Everything's copied from something else nowadays anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal!

Once I was done arguing with myself about the morals behind my actions, I headed towards the location of the commotion. The sight of hundreds and hundreds of people appearing confused and worried at the entrance of a sealed off station entered my vision. Guards were posted at the main doors of the station preventing anyone from getting too close. It definitely was not any sort of celebratory occasion. Smoke could be seen rising from the balcony on the second floor; the crowd was getting more and more agitated. If this was turning out to be a threatening to the safety of the lives in the city, then I would have to get involved. Without hesitation, I entered the mob of people, pushing my way so I could get a clearer view of what was happening.

"What's going on inside?" I asked out loud to anyone around me.

"Military personnel went in, but they haven't come back out yet," answered someone in front of me.

"Have they been defeated by the terrorists?" asked the man beside me with a frantic look on his face.

_Terrorists taking action in broad daylight? I guess Earth Land wasn't all rainbows and sunshine after all._ I had read in the book that there were criminal organizations, and now it looks like I was going to see them for myself.

"Look! Someone's coming out!"

From behind the large trail of smoke, what appeared to be a female knight stepped onto the balcony. She had long bright red hair and very sharp brown eyes, both together reminding me of a wild rose with thorns. Beautiful, yet if you're not careful, it can be dangerous. Like an actor entering the stage, she gracefully stepped forward with a megaphone to address the restless crowd. She looked proud and was no doubt an experienced warrior from how steeled her gaze and how watchful her eyes appeared. For a moment I was reminded of a certain King who was once my partner back in my world; there was certainly a noble aura being emitted by this female knight standing before us.

"If you value your life, leave here immediately! The station is occupied by evil mages! One of them is ready to cast a spell that will kill everyone around here! Evacuate as far as possible!" announced the red haired female donning a silver breastplate with matching gauntlets and a short blue skirt. Looking closer I noticed that the sigil of Fairy Tail was imprinted on her breastplate. It was another member of that guild, more coincidences I suppose.

The sound of a pin dropping probably could be heard after the crowd instantly went silent. There were no reactions or movements, only silence… and then pandemonium.

The crowd went hysterical, elbowing each other in the face, shoving the people to the side away, even going as far as climbing on top of one another to get away from the station a bit quicker. At one point I even saw bird with its mouth wide open screeching in a panic. Despite all the chaos, I stood as a statue and was unmovable even when people tried pushing me out of the way.

After the entire crowd was long gone, I was the only one remaining in front of the station where the female knight was looking down from. For a second both I and the female knight locked eyes as we tried sizing one another up. Although it seemed that the safety of the civilians was her objective, it was still unclear what her motives were, likewise for me in her view. Again there was a drawn out silence.

Suddenly, an enormous vortex of wind was conjured on the spot and engulfed the station without any warning. Clouds were gathering in the area above at an alarming rate as the rays of the sun were quickly being blocked out. The winds were very strong and pulled in everything around it; cars, trees, building pieces, you name it. There had to be a reason for the sudden interruption by the vortex, and the individual floating right above it all looked like the prime suspect.

He had long silver hair which was combed to the left side of his long face. His eyes were circled by dark lines and were slanted downwards; he also wore a small grin while looking down at the female knight. The man did not wear a shirt, though he did have a ragged black scarf, which revealed a lean body and displayed blue tattoos of a simple pattern throughout. For the lower portion of his body, he wore an assortment of cloths which were coloured white, black and blue, each of them were torn or ripped at the edges that complimented his menacing look. Finally, the man carried a deadly looking scythe that was larger than the full height of the man. Overall he had the appearance of a human reaper.

The female knight and the reaper look alike were having a conversation in front of the cyclone of wind. I hastily forced reinforcement magic into my ears in hopes of getting information about the current situation.

"Hey Titania," mocked the reaper to the female knight.

"Eligor!" she shouted back. It looks like they weren't on good terms. "Are you the one responsible for this?"

"I wanted to fight you just once… But unfortunately, I don't have the time for that right now."

Still floating above ground, the man named Eligor placed one hand in front of his body. The next second, a powerful blast of wind hit the armor of the female knight named Titania, knocking her inside the vortex of wind. _Was she still alright?_

"Eligor! What are you planning to do with Lullaby?" I heard her scream from inside the wind, confirming that she was still up and alive. It also seemed that she tried escaping by crashing her body against the winds.

"Don't bother… this magic wall of wind only goes one way; from outside to inside. If you try to escape, the wind will slice up your body."

"What are you doing!"

"It's a birdcage… or rather a fly cage… Though it's a little too big for that! Hahah!" Eligor laughed out enthusiastically after talking to Titania. Besides looking completely bad in nature, his sense of humor seemed to be bad as well. "I've wasted too much time on you. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Halfway through Eligor's sentence, wind began gathering around his body. The mass of wind then swiftly lifted Eligor high up into the sky as he left the scene without any time to spare. Before he was out of my hearing range, Eligor finished the rest of his sentence all while trying to contain himself from bursting out in laughter.

"I'm off to Clover Town to kill those bastards!"

I had a bad premonition. It was angering enough that this random fellow wanted to end the lives of other people, but Clover Town was where Levy, Jet and Droy, along with all the innocent people I recently met were currently being treated. If what Titania was saying before was true, then there was going to be many civilian casualties from the spell Eligor was going to cast. I could feel a strong feeling of indignation building up inside me.

I hurried to reinforce my body and broke out in a mad sprint towards Clover Town. The city could be reached by following the railway all the way down. Eligor had complete air advantage over me and was travelling at a speed that almost matched my maximum output. To be honest, it was going to be difficult to make it to Clover Town in time. I prayed that the activation to the spell had a large delay as I dashed along the railway in frenzy. If this Eligor were to succeed in activating his deadly spell…

"I will kill him."

[Scene Break]

It's been well over half an hour since I charged towards Clover Town and unfortunately I still haven't caught sight of Eligor. The amount of turns the railway had around cliffs and large obstacles made it look like a snake, which slowed down my overall advance. I couldn't go straight on ahead either due to the railway being built on a human made narrow path in the middle of a canyon.

"Damn it…" time wasn't on my side, I was afraid Eligor was almost nearly at his destination. My muscles were beginning to throb and tear from the excessive amount of blood being repeatedly pumped to my legs. Even with my regenerative abilities; sprinting constantly for such a long time still takes a lot out of me. There was no option for me to dawdle around resting though; I had to stop Eligor.

A sudden glint in the sky back in the opposite direction caught my attention. It was still quite far away, but at the same time it was closing the distance between us at an impressive rate. The shape of the object in the sky became more and more prominent, until eventually I could get a better look at just what it was. The front was a light red color and the back of the object was a light shade of blue. What was most interesting was that this object was also sprouting wings as it moved at near impossible speeds. Was this some new kind of technology developed by the people of Earth Land? It was somehow moving faster than the speed of sound judging by how ridiculously fast it was closing the gap between us, despite looking a little under two metres long. I continued observing it right until it flew over my head, and that's when I realized its identity.

_Oh, it's just a blue cat with wings carrying a red haired male… Somehow leaving behind a trail of tremors made up of sound as it passes by me. _As if I wasn't feeling enough stress from current events, now I had to deal with finding the dichotomy between reality and delusions. There was something oddly familiar about them though.

"Ah right…" I said out loud as the recognition hit me. The identities of the two flying faster than Mach 1 were the Fairy Tail members I had met before. The cat was named Happy, and the redhead was named Natsu.

_Note to self, cats in this world are capable of speech and flight_. My mood had taken a complete one-eighty degree turn. From the presence of Titania who had the emblem of Fairy Tail on her armor; I was positive that Fairy Tail was deeply involved in this case. Both Natsu and Happy bore the title of Fairy Tail mages and were now headed in the direction of Clover Town. At the speed they were travelling at, catching up to Eligor was entirely possible.

"Good luck, Fairy Tail!" I called after them.

[Scene Break]

It hadn't even been another fifteen minutes before another guest came closing the distance between the last station and my current position. This time it was something I could identify right away after reinforcing my eyes with prana. It was a large vehicle which resembled a golf cart, except this one could carry a lot more people.

I had almost instinctively called out to ask for a ride, but as it got closer it was clear that the driver had no intentions of stopping. It was the female knight with scarlet hair called Titania in the driver's seat with three other passengers, one of them being Lucy who I had met before on the first day I arrived in Earth Land and the other two were black haired males I haven't made acquaintance with yet.

"Get out of the way!" cursed Titania as she nearly ran me over. If I hadn't sidestepped at the last instant onto the edge of the railings, I would've probably been sent flying off the railway into the canyon. Such recklessness, but the situation called for it. I had gotten a glimpse of her face as she continued driving past me; it was close to the point of exhaustion as sweat crawled down past her squinted eyes which could barely remain open. It looked like my hunches were correct; Eligor was indeed in possession of something dangerous and stopping him was took precedence over all us. I momentarily caught sight of Lucy looking back outside towards me.

"Wait isn't that…" she said as she continued staring at my distancing figure. I gave a friendly nod to her before her details were no longer visible to the naked eye.

To know that there are were others doing their best to save the lives of innocent people warmed my heart. Perhaps it was even warming my entire body, because there was a sudden shift in how warm I felt all around. Paying attention to my surroundings again, approximately a few miles ahead was a giant pillar of fire. It was generating enough heat to even change the temperature of the air from where I was. This fire most definitely belonged to Natsu; the feeling I got from the flames was telling me so.

I sped up as much as I could to find out what had just transpired.

When I arrived at the scene, the smell of scorched earth, clothes and flesh entered my nostrils. It was evident that a fierce battle had just taken place here; the metal railings were either torn apart or melted from the raw heat of Natsu's magic. The wooden boards connecting the railing were also no more, leaving behind ashes and soot. Four individuals and a cat belonging to Fairy Tail stood in front of me, and another charred human was lying face up on the dirt floor to their side; he wasn't dead.

Their faces told me it wasn't over yet even with Erigor unconscious. Something was wrong; one of the individuals previously in the vehicle was missing. And now that I look at it, the vehicle was missing too.

The woman known as Titania approached me.

"Who are you?" asked Titania in a demanding voice. She raised an eyebrow and scowled at me. In one quick motion she drew her sword at her side and aimed its tip at my neck. "You were present at the station when Eigor got away, are you in leagues with those criminals?"

"Hmph, all I want to do is prevent the spell that could kill innocent people from being casted," I answered unflinchingly. I matched her penetrating glare with my own. "By the looks on your faces, I'm guessing it's not over yet."

Titania's eyebrows furrowed even deeper at my response without moving her sword.

"Erza wait! This man is named Shirou, he saved me in one of my jobs with Natsu," said Lucy jumping in between the sword and me. I guess Titania was just an alias of hers.

"…" Erza said nothing as she withdrew her sword.

"Hey! It's the redman from before. Lucy never stopped talking about how cool you were after that job," laughed Natsu. I might've been a little happy about hearing that if my mind wasn't concentrated at the situation at hand.

"She l-l-l-l-likes you," said Happy while rolling his tongue. I refrained from sighing from how ridiculous it sounded coming from a cat.

"Stop that!" cried Lucy as she tried catching Happy.

"Everyone calm down, we don't have the time for this now," replied the young male with black scruffy hair. "Because Lucy, Happy and Natsu seem to know you and because we might need more help since Erza's exhausted, I'll quickly let you in on what's going on."

The male introduced himself as Gray Fullbuster and gave me a short summary of what just occurred. There was a Dark Guild known as Eisenwald run by the now burnt Erigor. The guild wanted to get revenge on the guild masters because of an event that occurred in the past that left a bad taste in their mouths. The guild masters were currently having a meeting in Clover Town, which was why Erigor was headed there. Using an ancient flute known as 'Lullaby', which could kill anyone who could hear its tune, Erigor would kill the guild masters and anyone around all at once. Back at the station, one of the Eisenwald members named Kageyama was gravely injured, so they brought him along in pursuit of Erigor to have him treated at a hospital. After Erigor was found defeated by Natsu, the injured Kageyama took Lullaby for himself and stole their vehicle to reach Clover Town, and then I arrived.

It was enough for me to come to a conclusion about something else that had been bothering me. Prana flowed through my magic circuits that I had just opened.

_Trace on_. I began walking towards the body of Erigor holding Kanshou in one hand and Bakuya in the other. Without a word I raised my left arm carrying Kanshou above my head and swung down.

The sound of steel clashing together filled the air. Sparks could be seen flying between the contacts of the two swords. Erza had swiftly intercepted my killing blow to Erigor's chest. Gasps of shock could be heard from the other members behind me.

"You bastard, have you lost your mind?" Erza shouted. "I knew you couldn't be trusted the moment I set my eyes on you back at the station. Your eyes are dangerous; they could only belong to someone who has killed many."

"I'm only doing the world a favor by extinguishing the trash that plagues it," I calmly said as I relaxed my shoulders and stepped back from Erza. She was right though, I've stained my hands in blood far too many times to count.

"What do you mean? No one has the right to take the life of another living being!" yelled Natsu

"Anyone who has the tenacity to take the lives of many innocents all for the sake of some pitiful revenge can't be classified as human at all. They're monsters," I said. I've met plenty of them back in my world.

"Even so… Their lives should be judged by the authorities and the Magic Council, not by mages like us. The Rune Knights should be arriving soon to capture Erigor and the other members," said Gray.

"And look what good that's done! Right now the Eisenwald member, Kageyama, is on his way to potentially kill your master and a whole bunch of other lives that were unfortunate enough to be caught up in their revenge. All because you were unwilling to take actions into your own hands. For all you know, Erigor here may bounce right back up on his feet after recovering and kill tens of hundreds of civilians! Criminals who play with the lives of others do not require saving. I've been travelling alone most of my life, all for the sake of saving the lives of anyone I could. It was then, that I realized the cold hard truth; it's impossible to save everyone…" my emotions were getting heated. All because I once held the foolish dream that I could save every single life without anyone dying. I discovered for myself that it was impossible, but I'm certain that deep down inside, I was still holding on tight to that dream. I'm a hypocrite indeed.

"No, I won't accept that," Natsu firmly declared with fire in his eyes. Literally. "I will find a way to make everyone happy. Even if I have to fight for the rest of my life, I'll make sure that no one around me has to die unjustly. Erigor is trash, he's a terrible person, but even he deserves to live in order to pay the world back for his crimes. I'd never sacrifice the lives of others for the sake of an easier life!"

It was strange, I wonder if this was how the future me felt looking his loathed past self. Right now I felt like I was looking at a reflection of my stashed away feelings.

I finally backed down after silence was the only sound that could be heard. I heaved a sigh and erased Kanshou and Bakuya. Everyone seemed more at ease once my hands were empty. "I won't change my views on what should be done, but right now something remains far on top of my list rather than killing Erigor."

"I agree," nodded Erza. "Kageyama is very low on magic in his current condition. Even if we go by foot, there's a good chance we can still stop him from activating Lullaby."

"Going by foot beats transportation any day! Right Happy?" said Natsu excitedl.

"Aye sir!" shouted out Happy as he pumped a fist in the air.

"Right, what's important now is that we stop Kageyama at any cost," agreed Gray. The impression that I got from Gray was that he was calm, reasonable and an understanding individual; one of the more level-headed characters in Fairy Tail…

That was until I noticed he was only wearing a pair of briefs. I hadn't even noticed him taking his clothes off… Could it be that he was some master pervert?

"Gray… Your clothes…" said Lucy embarrassingly. She hung her head down and let out one of her own sighs.

"Uuoohh!"

Look like everyone in Fairy Tail was unique in their own way.

[Scene Break]

"Lucy you're lagging behind!" Erza was currently in front leading me, Gray and Lucy towards Clover Town. Natsu had already taken up to the skies with Happy as they were flying a little further on ahead. They weren't going at the speed they were going at before though; even cats had their limits I figured.

Lucy was struggling to keep up at the back; it appeared she wasn't one of the more physical types of mages. I was a little interested in what type of magic she used.

Shortly after we began taking off, Natsu and Gray began fighting behind Erza's back. Not just simply with words, but some of their magic leaked out too as they banged their heads against each other. Fire surrounded Natsu's arm, while a cold chill was emitted from Gray as ice started forming in his clenched fist. I believe the fight started after one of them accidently nudged the other one while running; I wasn't really paying attention. The fight ended as quickly as it started though, because when Erza looked back to check up on us, the two of them were suddenly best friends with their arms around each other's shoulder while whistling a happy tune.

So Natsu definitely uses solely fire magic, Gray uses some sort of ice magic and Erza's magic had something to do with her swordsmanship. Previously when she blocked my attack on Erigor, she displayed a little of her skill by how fast and accurately she reacted. No one could react in such a way without honing their skills with a sword.

Last, but not least was Lucy who still remained a mystery. I looked back towards her to see how she was faring.

She was swaying side to side as she ran in the typical girly run you would only see in ladies brought up in a rich environment. Both her hands remained brought up with palms facing forward and slightly to her side as she ran, while her large assets bounced up and down with every step she took. I swear I wasn't looking at them. It didn't help that she wore a very slim black tank top that could barely keep her assets from popping out.

She was slowing down the entire group. I could tell Erza and Gray was slowing their pace in order for Lucy to catch up. I could run on ahead and reach Clover Town before any of them could, but I didn't know the location of where the guild meeting was taking place. Lucy was really putting in her best effort, and I really admired that, but we needed all the time we could get. I decided to slow down next to Lucy.

"Lucy, are you going to be alright?" I asked.

"What? Yeah… but I… I might have to rest… for a second now…" she said sadly while gasping for breath. She was now standing on spot trying to grab every bit of oxygen she could get. "Can you tell the others… to keep going? At this rate… I'd… I'd be slowing everyone down."

"I have a better idea," I took a step forward in front of her and knelt down. My back was now facing her as I made a gesture with my hands. "Get on Lucy, I'll carry you the rest of the way there."

"Huh? What! I can't do that," refused Lucy. She started waving her hands in front of her vigorously shaking her head. "I'm heavier than I look, even Happy said so!"

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"But still…"

"Lucy, you yourself probably know that Erza, Natsu and Gray will make the effort to wait for you. They seem to have a strong sense of comradeship after all," I sternly said. "I am willing to go on ahead without everyone else to stop Kageyama, but I'm sure having everyone together would be the best course of action."

I remained kneeling for a few seconds before two delicate arms and hands could be felt embracing my neck. I smiled and slowly stood up while tucking my arms under her soft pale legs. Once I felt I had Lucy safely buckled down, I broke off in a sprint once again.

"Let's pick up the pace," I shouted out loud enough for Erza and Gray to pick up.

They both looked back at me and Lucy and nodded in confirmation. Both their speeds drastically increased as we closed in on their heels. My strides were longer and softer now to accommodate for Lucy.

"Carrying me isn't tiring you out or anything is it?" Lucy asked worriedly. "I'm not too heavy right!"

"Don't worry about it, you're actually very light. Except for those two things on your chest pushing against me," I replied jokingly. Suddenly two clenched fists came raining down on my head repeatedly.

"Help! I'm being sexually harassed!"

"Hahah… I'm kidding," I hastily said. I didn't want to be put on the same page as Gray. Lucy halted her attack on me and resumed her previous position with both her arms crossed around my neck.

A few minutes passed before she finally spoke up again.

"Hey Shirou… About before when you attempted to kill Erigor," softly said Lucy. She hesitated a bit before speaking up again. "I'll confess that at first I was terrified by what you were planning to do, but after I felt like I could sympathize with you."

I nodded my head as I sensed where the conversation was headed.

"No one can truly admit you are in the wrong, after all what you're saying is theoretically correct. But after joining Fairy Tail I now understand. I haven't been a member for long but I sense it; everyone in the guild has adopted the same line of thinking that Natsu has. Even if we have to put our life on the line, we'll do whatever we can so everyone can be happy, so no one has to die. Alone it might be impossible to save everyone, but if everyone works together, anything can happen. This is what I feel from being in Fairy Tail.

I continued running.

"You don't have to be alone, Shirou. I'm not sure what kind of past you had, or what made you think that way, but I just wanted to let you know that joining a guild has been the best decision I've ever made!" Lucy happily exclaimed. "I can already tell that you carry one of the kindest souls I've ever come across, so please don't continue isolating yourself to a life of solitude."

"Lucy…" I gently called out her name. I could feel Lucy placing the side of her face against my shoulder. A peaceful sensation was felt by me and surely by Lucy as well.

Not once has anyone thought of my true ideals as practical, but now from what Lucy was saying; there was an entire guild full of people with the same ideals as me.

I ran the rest of the journey into Clover Town in silence with Lucy on my back.

[Scene Break]

"There's the vehicle! Kageyama can't be far away!" said Erza as she weaved her way through a thicket of trees.

"Shit, I hope we're not too late," said Gray.

"Everyone let's hurry!" shouted out Natsu.

Twilight was now making its way above us as the sun was beginning to make its exit for the night. It was getting more difficult to make our way towards the guild meeting, but that didn't mean we weren't clearing through the maze of obstacles as if hell was upon us.

"Lucy, keep your head down," I said to the blonde still on my back.

"Roger that; don't worry about me though," replied Lucy.

A small clearing was ahead of us now, and at the centre of it stood a large brick building. _That must be it!_

"There!"

"Jii-chan!"

"Master!"

A small distance in front of us stood a very short elderly man. He was wearing something similar to a jester hat with hair sticking out at the sides. He had a thick, white moustache and wore a simple outfit consisting of pants, a jacket and a white shirt. On the centre of the white shirt was a large stamp of Fairy Tail.

_So that's the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar._ Makarov was standing face to face with Kageyama who had a flute brought near his face. I hurriedly let Lucy down off my back, and prepared to trace a bow.

A sudden movement in the bushes to our left caught my attention before I had completed my trace. It was very short, pudgy and also had its own pair of tiny wings. A large bald creature who had the body of a sumo-wrestler that wore a black tank top and a striped patterned skirt stepped in front of us with its arms stretched out to stop our attack.

"Shhh! The best part is coming up. Just watch," The creature turned around to reveal the face of a grown pudgy man wearing a face full of makeup. "Wait, you guys are cute. Ufu…"

Hearts could be seen floating around his body as he lovingly gazed at me, Natsu and Gray. A sense of dread like no other I've ever experienced froze my body stiff. I wanted to get away…

"Wh-who is he!" shouted Lucy.

"Blue Pegasus master!" yelled Erza as she addressed the abnormal creature in front of us.

"My, Erza-chan, you've grown," replied the man in a mixture of a feminine and masculine voice. This was one of the guild masters; I looked around and saw that others joined our group in viewing the interaction between the Fairy Tail master and Kageyama in front of us.

I could hear the conversation they were having.

"What's going on? Hurry up already," replied Makarov with a refined voice. He continued passively looking at Kageyama.

_I see… They already know what was going on…_ The masters were now testing the individual in front of us. I'm sure if Kageyama had even gone as far as blowing out one single note, he'd most likely be blown apart in a split second. Makarov of Fairy Tail was one of the ten strongest wizards in all of Fiore; he of all people would probably know the power of that flute.

"Now," Makarov strongly said.

Kageyama panicked, his eyes were bloodshot and sweat drenched his face as he shook nervously while bringing the flute closer to his mouth. Once it touched his lips, he kept it there, still visibly shaking. He didn't play it.

"Nothing will change," confidently explained Makarov. "Weaklings will stay weak forever. But weakness is not evil, since human beings are weak to begin with."

_Yes, we are all weak, there's no such thing as a perfect human being._

"Alone you feel nothing but insecurity; that's why we form guilds. That's why we have friends and allies. We walk together in order to live a strong life."

_Was that the reason why I feared failure, because I was alone? I've always preferred going alone into battle; that way I wouldn't have to feel the despair of seeing my partners die. Have I been approaching my goals wrong?_

The clumsy ones will run into more walls than the others and it may also take them longer to get there. If you believe in tomorrow and put yourself out there, you can naturally obtain your strength. That's how you'll be able to smile and live strong. Without having to depend on such a flute, of course."

The master of Fairy Tail visibly grinned as he finished his lecture to Kageyama. It was as I had thought; Makarov knew all along and was testing Kageyama. This was a guild master; powerful and understanding. Even if his words weren't directed at me, I felt like I finally have an answer for myself because of them.

"I admit my loss," said Kageyama as he fell to his hands and knees. He wasn't angry or fearful of the consequences; instead he lightly smiled while lowering his head.

'_I will find a way to make everyone happy.' was what Natsu had told me before. Was this the true power having allies?_

The Fairy Tail members went to rejoice about the conclusion of the event with their master. It was the complete reverse of how everyone was feeling just moments ago. I thought to myself and decided that now was practically the best time to complete another new objective of mines. We were all interrupted though.

"Kah Kah Kah, you mages have no guts," the voice was coming from the dropped flute named Lullaby.

I clicked my tongue; nothing was ever as easy as it looked. At this time, everyone was wide-eyed and shocked at the revelation of a talking flute. I guess this world didn't have many talking inanimate objects, yet talking animals were completely normal.

"I can't hold it any longer. I'll just eat you all myself," it boldly said. Smoke rose from the tip of the flute as it looked to be transfiguring into another form.

"The flute talked! Happy!" Lucy screamed as she tightly grabbed on to the cat.

"The smoke… is forming a shape," analyzed Happy as he was being choked.

The smoke grew to such a gargantuan size that it almost seemed to join with the clouds in the sky above. At the top of the cloud, something emerged; it was a hand completely made of a sturdy looking wood. First appeared the hand as it crawled from the insides of the cloud, then it brought its entire upper body up through the clouds. It was massive demon looking monster made up of what appeared like wood. Using my Structural Grasp Magecraft which allowed me to look at its composition; the demon was clearly not made up of anything that I could determine.

It gave us a malevolent grin as he glanced down at us as if we went ants. It had two large horns similar to an ox and three bottomless eyes; it really was like a demon from hell.

"Let me consume your pitiful souls," its dark deep voice echoed through the lands. By now the cloud of smoke had dispersed and the remaining portions of its body were made known. It had thick powerful looking legs that looked like intertwined roots of a tree.

I peered back towards the guild masters, hoping for some sort of confirmation for what was actually before us.

"Oh… I think my belly's acting up… I'll leave this mess to you youngsters here," said Makarov as he retired into the guild meeting building.

_Seriously… at such a crucial time?_

"It's the devil from the Book of Zeref!" shouted out one of the guild masters wearing a wizard hat and a pair of sunglasses even though nightfall had arrived.

"Devil from the Book of Zeref?" I confusingly repeated out loud. "How was the demon summoned? I thought the Lullaby wasn't activated!"

"Don't look at me! I didn't do anything!" yelled Kageyama.

"That devil is Lullaby itself, meaning its living magic," answered the chubby fairy, Bob. "Dark mage Zeref; the most atrocious mage in the history of magic… I never imagined that this adverse legacy from several years ago would reappear."

"Now… whose soul should I enjoy first?" the demon said while taking a step forward with its trunk like legs. Vibrations could be felt from the step he took as the force from his leg cracked the grounds underneath. "I've decided, all of yours!"

It widely opened its mouth and began sending out a chilling shriek.

"Hieeeek!" cried out Lucy as she tried stopping the scream by covering her ears.

I sprang into action, and so did Erza, Natsu and Gray.

_Trace on._ Again I instinctively traced both Kanshou and Bakuya as I raced against the other Fairy Tail members to stop the monstrous demon in front of us.

I lowered my right arm slightly back behind my head while my other arm was outstretched above my head to help direct my aim. Keeping the speed I was currently running at, I began sidestepping while I leaned back slightly to give my other arm more leverage.

_Fly!_ I kicked off with my left leg as I twisted the right side of my body forward. I swung my right arm upwards with the momentum of my body and released one of the twin swords, Bakuya, from my grip. The aim of my throw was slightly angled to the right as the white blade was now spinning at a ferocious speed which made it look like a white spinning saw. The blade arced through the air homing into my actual target. Once it completed a crescent course in the the air it sliced cleanly across one side of the demon's open mouth and exited through the other; stopping the demon from voicing its horrendous screech. Bakuya then continued its arc, this time flying back to my hands like a boomerang. It was a special ability of Kanshou and Bakuya, both swords would always be attracted to one another.

Erza was next to follow up on my attack. Her whole body shone in a blinding light as she dashed towards the leg of the now quiet demon. When the light surrounding her body vanished, she was somehow in a new suit of armor and was dual-wielding two long swords. Her current armor had steel wings similar to an eagle, and silver plating covered her breasts, leaving her stomach visible. She had a skirt that billowed in the air as she seemed to sail through the air with her wings. She reminded me of the mythical Valkyries I've read about back in my world.

Gliding through the sky, Erza then descended towards the demon's leg. With a swing from both of her swords, the demon's leg was cleaved right open. It could barely keep itself standing.

Natsu and Gray both pulled a simultaneous attack on both sides of the demon. Natsu was again demonstrating his unique abilities as he crawled up the demon's body at an impressive speed.

"Rawrrr!" roared Natsu imitating some beast.

Natsu's ignited his feet with flames and jumped up to deliver a solid kick to the demon's already wounded face. Half the face of the demon was cracked open after the blow and flames proceeded to spread across the demon's body.

Gray at the same time revealed his own magic. He fist pounded the side of his fist against his other open palm; mists of ice appeared when they connected. He then brought his hands behind his back to the side with them still together and finished by pushing them forward.

"Ice Make: Lance!"

Long curved lances made of ice shot out from Gray's open hands which made its way to the demon. Without any time to react, the lances impaled through the arm and leg of the demon which created quite a sight to see.

One half of the demon's body was trailing with smoke from where Natsu's attack hit; flames were still ignited in some places, while the other half was punctured by lances of ice. The demon collapsed backwards and shook the entire ground when it did so. It was odd, despite looking far beyond anything capable of being still alive, there was still the feeling of a large mass of energy present throughout the demon's wretched body.

"They did it!" Lucy happily celebrated as she ran over.

Suddenly, the demon's face convoluted around towards Lucy. Its eyes revealed a sense of amusement as it opened its mouth wide displaying an endless black void.

"Lucy! Watch out!" I dashed in front of her and crossed my two blades in front to shield my face.

A stream of dark energy expelled from the demon's gaping mouth towards where I was standing. I braced my legs for impact, placing one leg in front and the other behind to support; tensing my body, I took the full force of the attack.

My feet tore into the ground from the amount of energy I needed to repel the attack. The twin swords took the brunt of the attack, but I still need to use my body to defend Lucy from the beam of magic which was larger than my whole body… it burnt. With the physical and magical resistance Bakuya and Kanshou gave me, I still felt like my body was dipped in a pool of fire as I gritted my teeth to prevent from shouting.

From where my weapons blocked the dark energy, bright sparks could be seen which came from the dissipating energy. And after a few seconds of the searing pain, it ended. My arms felt sore from absorbing the blow, but what surprised me most was…

_The attack was weaker than I thought it would be._ Judging from the amount of energy the demon had contained within, it could have been a far more destructive attack. Whatever the cause, I was lucky enough to come out unscathed.

"Shirou! Are you okay!" cried out Lucy. It was evident that fear was in her voice; for all she knows, I could be dead but still standing in place.

"I'm fine, so get back, it's not over yet," I roughly said.

I heard her scurry back towards a safer place, but not before whispering, "Thank you…"

Meanwhile, the demon had brought itself back up onto its feet, fully recovered as well. Its face was patched back up, while the rest of its body had regenerated its missing bits and pieces.

"Resist all you want, your attacks won't do the slightest bit of damage to me," the demon grinned, surprisingly it had deformed teeth. "My last attack was just a little warning for what's to come if you continue to defy me. Forfeit your pitiful souls before I give you an agonizing death."

_I see, so it's toying with us._

"Forget it you overgrown tree," shouted Natsu.

Leaping up the skies, Natsu dived towards the arm of the demon.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" the fists of Natsu have kindled in flames.

Natsu's punch shot straight through the arm of the demon; lopping it off.

But the arm instantly reformed. Large root like appendages sprang forth from where the arm once was. The appendages entangled themselves and became a new arm altogether.

Natsu was still mid-flight and the demon decided to test its new arm out. It swatted Natsu back down to the earth like a fly. The demon then proceeded to sluggishly lift its foot to continue its onslaught on Natsu.

Before it could, an iceberg sized spike emerged from the ground and stabbed through the demon's torso. Swords also rained down from above with enough force to strike down the demon once again. Both were courtesy of Gray and Erza of course.

After the attacks, Natsu had regained his composure and clasped his hands together forming a narrow opening in between. He then placed his hands in front of his mouth.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" shouted Natsu.

An explosion of fire swept through his hands and quickly engulfed the fallen demon in flames. Because of its massive size, the sound of burning could be heard from miles away.

None of the attacks were effective though. The burning demon slowly stood up as if nothing had happened. A sudden jolt of magic could be felt and then the demon was as good as new. The fire was doused and it had already regenerated its body.

It opened its mouth and fired a multitude of cannonball sized rounds of magic at the four of us standing close to it.

"Don't get hit by it!" screamed out Erza. It seemed she felt it too; this attack was much more powerful than its last.

Everyone was able to accurately dodge them. There were waves of incoming magic, but they weren't by any means fast. Once I was able to do so, I observed the surroundings.

Trees were melted down to nothing more than a mere stump and a few falling leaves. Boulders had been reduced to pebbles and the ground before us was still being dissolved by the small traces of magic still left from the attack. The battlefield which was once filled with lush green scenery now looked like an empty wasteland.

"I told you it was pointless," laughed the demon.

There was absolutely no way I could allow such a thing to exist.

"Natsu, Erza, Gray" I called their names and indicated for them to come over.

The three of them complied and interestingly enough, the demon did not react as it peered down in triumph. _I would make sure it regretted that_. The four of us joined heads and huddled together like a football team.

"I have a plan, but I need your help," I blatantly said. I specified with my head for them to look at a large rock situated far away from any sort of civilization behind the demon. "I want you three to somehow push the demon back towards that rock in the distant. If you can do so, then I'm confident that we can beat it."

"And how will we bringing it far away help you beat it?" Gray asked. "You saw for yourself. This monster is able to instantly regenerate itself!"

"I don't trust you," said Erza. "I bet you want us to lead it away so you can acquire time to escape."

It didn't seem to be going good. At this rate it would take much more effort than it should to take the demon down.

"Let's do it," said Natsu. I humbly thanked Natsu inside my head. "After all he came all this way to stop Lullaby and even saved Lucy!"

Erza could be heard clicking her tongue as both Gray and her reluctantly consented after listening to Natsu.

"Thank you, I won't let everyone down," I graciously said. "I want you three to lead the demon past the boulder. The instant you do, retreat as fast as you can back in the direction you came from. Before the demon is able to chase after you guys, I'll roll my plan into action!"

"Aye sir!" answered Natsu.

"Tsk," I guess the other two weren't as happy to follow some stranger's order.

[Scene Break]

I was currently on top of a hill over a couple miles away from where the three were leading the demon. The reason for this was because I needed a better view and fewer obstructions for my plan. The plan was actually very simple. To get past the demon's super regenerative property, all that's needed to be done is obliterate the entire demon in one blow.

I traced my trusted bow identical to the one Archer had used back in the Holy Grail War. It had a dark metallic color and was almost identical in height with me. Though it looked fragile, it was flexible and resistant enough to handle the strain put on by firing Noble Phantasms.

I nocked my conceptual arrow and carefully drew back my bowstring. As I did, the arrow materialized.

"My bone shall twist all in its way!" I chanted.

Developing from what looked like a dimensional rift at the point where my arrow would lie on my bow; I conjured a pearl spiral shaped sword, which much resembled a drill. Prana gushed through my circuits and into the weapon my hand was currently drawing like an arrow; the image of the weapon could be seen distorting as red currents of light coiled around the spiraled blade. Its shape and proportions only lasted momentarily before its power embedded in itself was condensed into the form of a shimmering ethereal arrow. The weapon was no longer distinguishable; instead it was 'broken'.

I peered down below to see that they were currently retreating back towards where we parted. The prana within me roared as I prepared judgment for the demon. The very air around me seemed to ripple from the amount of power being generated into the weapon. The creaking from the bowstring stretched to its limit could be heard

The Fairy Tail members were now a safe distance away; I pinpointed the exact location I'd hit and called the weapon's name.

"Caladbolg!"

The Broken Phantasm rocketed towards the demon; reducing the time it took to cross the couple miles to nothing. The demon turned its face towards the torrent of light and at that moment a new emotion appeared on its face; despair.

The arrow struck the demon square on the body and when it did, the blackened night was overtaken by an explosion of light which made it look as though the sun had snuck back out.

[Scene Break]

"What the hell was that?" shouted Gray.

I had just returned back to the outside of where the guild meeting was being held.

"It was an attack that could destroy the demon," I casually answered.

"Don't play smart with us, who are you really?" questioned Erza. She was now donning her original armor before the battle took place and also reverted back to using a single sword which had struck into the ground. "There's no way someone as powerful as you could have been undetected for all this time judging by how active you seem in these kinds of situations. There should have been words about an individual like you, but I haven't heard a single thing."

I could feel tiny beads of sweat begin to drip from my forehead. Erza was more perceptive than I gave her credit for. To get out of similar sticky situations such as when Rin would try forcing answers out of me, I developed a new skill. Pretend you didn't hear it and walk away.

I whistled an innocently sounding tune and marched in the opposite direction from Gray and Erza with my hands behind my back. _Don't look at her, don't look at her._

"So the youngsters have succeeded," saving me from everyone's cold stares was Makarov. "This time without any unnecessary damage, but it could've gone without that giant crater over there."

What Makarov was talking about was the damage caused by the Broken Phantasm I had shot to annihilate the demon; and of course collateral damage was inevitable. Though I had accomplished what I set out to do, the surrounding area had been completed wiped from the shockwaves of air and the explosive release of energy in the weapon. Anything within a kilometre of the point was now nothing more than dirt contributing to the deep crater which looked to have been formed from a giant meteor.

I approached Makarov; there was something I had to get off my chest.

"And you are?" Makarov asked while staring directly into my eyes.

"Jii-chan! He's the one that defeated Lullaby!" Natsu explained fervently. "Hey Shirou, fight me after everything's over! Oh wait; I'm already fighting Erza… Shirou! Fight me after I wipe the floor with Erza!"

I smirked; from what I could tell after seeing a little of each of their abilities, Erza could beat Natsu blindfolded and with both her arms tied.

"Natsu, I'll fight you after you beat Erza then!" I accepted his challenge. Natsu hopped into the air with joy while grinning with his rows of canine teeth. I turned back towards Makarov. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar. My name is Shirou Emiya."

I bowed down my head, but of course I still towered over Makarov.

"Yes that is me, and what is it that you want, Shirou Emiya?" his stare remained fixed on mine, trying to determine my purpose.

I did not need to lie or hide my true intentions. I knelt down on one knee with my head still lowered, similar to how a knight would bow in front of his king. At this height, I was on equal levels with Makarov.

"Shirou?" I could see Lucy from the corner of my eye looking on worriedly. Erza and Gray were also close to her staring suspiciously, while Natsu played around with Happy.

"Please allow me to join Fairy Tail," I said with conviction. Surprise could be heard from all around as I said this.

"And for what reason do you want to join Fairy Tail?"

I raised my head to return Makarov's unyielding gaze.

"I have one true goal in life. From what I have seen in your members so far rekindles the passion in my heart to follow my goal," I quickly stole a glance at the Fairy Tail members before continuing. "For all my life, I have and always will be… an Ally of Justice."

[Scene Break]

After Lullaby was defeated, Kageyama had accepted his arrest by the hands of the Rune Knights and peace returned to both the cities I had visited. No investigations were carried out to determine how Lullaby was defeated, which must have been due to the leniency given to guilds. After the event was settled, I had opted to separate from the Fairy Tail members to explore a little more of the country of Fiore; of course I didn't mention that I was from another world. I was to meet them again in their guild three days at noon from when I parted with them. Makarov told me I would have to be introduced to the guild before I could officially become a Fairy Tail member.

Before we went on our way, each of them had their own parting and welcoming words.

"_Shirou, I'm thankful you seem to be more reasonable than a lot of the members we currently have. If you were another Natsu, I'm afraid we would have had to shut down Fairy Tail from the amount of damage we'd have to cover," Makarov told me while lamenting over his money problems._

"_Though I still have my eye on you, it looks like we'll be comrades in arm from now on," said Erza as we shook hands._

"_Things will get a lot easier from now on with you in the guild, Shirou!" exclaimed Gray as he smacked my shoulders._

"_Hey! Don't you dare chicken out on joining Fairy Tail. After I take down Erza, you're next!" shouted Natsu with a finger pointed at me. _

"_Shirou…" said Lucy. She smiled and suddenly the whole world seemed to brighten. "Welcome to the family!"_

[Scene Break]

Three days have gone by and right now I was currently in the city of Magnolia. The sun had just risen and the city was bustling with activity even this early in the morning as everyone rushed to their jobs. I still had plenty of time to kill, four hours at least, before I would be formally introduced to the Fairy Tail guild. After determining where the guild could be found, so I wouldn't be late on my first day, I decided to look around the city.

The places I should memorize first in this time, of course, had to be the restaurants. Once I earned enough money to order some of their foods; then their recipes will be all mines!

I turned a corner and was met by a crowd of people going about on their day. I tried asking a few individuals for directions, but most of them didn't have the time to even look at me as they rushed through. Out of the corner of my eye a white cat with thin gray stripes made its way towards me.

"Hey excuse me," I addressed the cat. "Could you tell me where I could find the nearest restaurant from here? I'm actually new in this city and I'd appreciate it if you could take some of your time to direct me to its whereabouts."

Suddenly, the people around me stopped to stare while I was having a nice chat with the cat. Talk about minding your own business; though I finally understood why after the cat's reply.

"Meow," the cat walked over on all fours and began using my leg as a substitute toilet. It then pompously dashed away while meowing.

"Don't look at him," said one of the onlookers.

"He's one of those weirdoes that talks to animals," said another.

I sighed as I stood in place looking at the sunny sky in despair. Looks like I was going to have to find a place to wash off my pants.

**Chapter 3 End**

Author Notes:

Wow, I never thought I'd end up writing so much for a single chapter. Oh well, the more the merrier.

Finally, after 25000 words, I've gotten to the point where Shirou gets into Fairy Tail. Now I can finally start writing about the things I planned about when I first thought about this crossover.

A buff was given to Lullaby, because it felt too weak in the canon storyline. It has the ability to kill anyone who hears its tune, yet a kick, a few lances made of ice and a pair of swords totally wrecked it.

I'm seriously going to have to get used to writing battle scenes. I don't think I'm going to have a single chapter where a battle of some sort doesn't occur.

Some fixes for chapter 2

Instead of the whole different prana nonsense, I threw in a different one with the help a kind user, Belariard. Basically the new theory is that magic is more accepted by the world in Earth Land than it is on Earth, for anyone who doesn't want to re-read the last chapter.

Some readers complained about me making Gae Bolg some kind of healing weapon. Totally not what I was going for, as one of the reviewers said, I just had a different take on how the Vulcans abilities worked. There is no way I would make Gae Bolg the complete opposite of what it is. Sorry about the misunderstanding, but I added a bit more info to how the 'Take-over' magic of the Vulcans work.

Reviewer comments:

No worries about Rin; I wouldn't go as far as throwing her into Earth Land because that would completely ruin the purpose of why I wrote this fic.

'The Harem Must Be Fed', lol, it's a good thing Shirou is oblivious or most fics about him would turn out to be NSFW.

Hahah, of course Shirou will eventually bear witness to how Fairy Tail gets the job done. After all, what is Fairy Tail without its destroying of homes and cities?

Yeah, some Noble Phantasms that Shirou probably has access to are beyond powerful. Though he doesn't use them; it'd probably make Shirou's life way too easy, which is why he doesn't use it lol.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone that reads my story, I hope you enjoyed reading it. I don't have many reviews, but I am getting a lot of views which shows that people are following along at least.

If you see any mistakes, wrong information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	5. Hero's Tail: Side Mission 1: My Ideals?

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 4**

Note: I'll admit that I skip the filler arcs of the anime, so I was completely unaware that these characters show up again. And here I thought I was being smart about introducing new characters.

Unfortunately enough I found out after I finished writing. Hopefully you still enjoy despite the inconsistency (it's from a filler arc anyway right?).

[STORY START]

The Fairy Tail headquarters wasn't the most extravagant nor was it the highest class building. It was a three-story building with a banner with its name hanging at the doorway into the guild. It was quite a mediocre looking building compared to some of the other ones in the city, but what I appreciated most about this building was its architecture which resembled a historical Japanese castle. It really stuck out compared to the other buildings in Magnolia City which had a very medieval feeling to it. Fairy Tail was quite lovely; even if the details weren't exact, it still gave me an impression of a comfortable environment.

I gazed at Fairy Tail in respect; my mind glazed over each and every aspect of it and took everything in. It was also sitting in front of a vast lake that was currently shimmering underneath the beaming afternoon sun which made for quite a view.

Right now should be approximately the time they were expecting me to come in. It was probably going to be a quick process where I head in and obtain the sigil of Fairy Tail on my body and then I would be able to take on some quests.

I quickly looked over my clothing; checking it for any sorts of dirt or smells and then fixed my hair. Hesitantly I opened the door, and when I did, I stood there, speechless.

"Welcome to the guild, Shirou!" A crowd of at least fifty people were lined up underneath a large sign overhanging from the ceiling with the words 'Welcome, Shirou Emiya!'. All the wooden tables seemed to have been pushed back to the end of the large room to make space for everyone to shout at the top of their lungs when I pushed open the doors.

There were many unfamiliar faces which were to be expected, but at the front of the crowd stood Levy, Droy, Jet, Erza, Natsu, Gray and Lucy. They all had cheerful expressions as they welcomed me with wide spread arms; looking closer, Happy was also at their feet joyfully welcoming me in.

"What is this?" I asked confused. Sure, I had thoughts that there might have been a small welcoming party, but to get what looked like the entire guild to join in; was that really necessary?

"It's your welcoming party obviously! When we heard you were going to join, we had to throw one for you," explained Levy.

"Yeah, no doubt about that; you're one of us now, Shirou!" said Jet.

"I knew you'd come around, Fairy Tail is the greatest place to be after all," exclaimed Droy. "This place is going to be so much better with you here now!"

"Hahah… but not everyone had to waste their time just to throw a welcoming party for me," I nervously replied.

"Don't be so modest, we've heard all about your accomplishments in these few days from Levy's and Natsu's group. If anything, everyone's here to see the man who could wipe out an arsenal of Vulcans and take out an ancient Living Magic in one hit!" replied a somewhat short female with long white hair; she was by no means anything less than beautiful.

"Mmm! That's right Shirou, everyone's here to welcome you because they want to. No one here thinks that it's a hassle," said Lucy energetically.

"She l-l-l-l-l-l-likes you," evilly said Happy as he brought both his paws up to his mouth to hide his smirk.

"Shut-up, Shut-up!" cried out Lucy as she tried hitting Happy.

Everyone erupted into a cheerful laughter at the show the two were currently engaged in. There were laughs and smiles wherever I looked; this didn't look like a place where people gathered to take on jobs and requests, it was something else. There was a strange feeling I was getting from this place.

"Shirou, as you can see, everyone who was currently in the city came on their own accord to welcome you," it was Makarov making his way to stand in front of me. "From today onwards, you're not just another guild member, you're family."

_Family?_ It was a word that would send my mind reminiscing from the pool of nostalgic memories.

_I see, so that's why_. I smiled openly to everyone in front of me. This strange feeling from when I first entered Fairy Tail; it was the warmth of family.

"Thank you, everyone. Please take care of me from now on."

[Scene Break]

It's been thirty minutes since I started the formalities of joining the guild; this included getting the magical tattoo imprinted and signing a bunch of documents. All the other members were currently drowning barrels of beer and also divulging themselves in cake; Erza especially for the latter. Though Erza was trying to maintain her dignified aura and noble look, the rate which she was eating cakes was something out of this world.

"Congratulations, Shirou, you're now a member of Fairy Tail!" the one who gave me the Fairy Tail sigil was the white haired female from before; she introduced herself as Mirajane Strauss. She had a very kind demeanour and was beautiful which I'm guessing was why she had such a large fan club. The men from the guild could always be seen following her around and giving her compliments, quite entertaining to see.

I was finally a member of Fairy Tail, it felt like such an amazing accomplishment for me. After about a week here in Earth Land, I had already become a part of one of the most well-known guilds of all time. Back in my world I was more a lone figure traveling the world in search of places that required my assistance, I was not in a team or any kind of organization. Now that I'm in such a tightly knit group of people, it was such a strange sensation.

"Shirou! Where'd you get the emblem printed on?" asked Lucy.

"Right here," I lifted up my left hand for her to see. I chose to have a blood red Fairy Tail sigil on the back of my left hand; it felt more natural there after all.

"That's great! I actually got mines on my right hand on the same place," she lifted up her right hand and there was a pink Fairy Tail emblem that could be seen. "Hey Shirou, if you would like, I could show you aroun…"

Before Lucy could finish her sentence, she was sent flying across the room only to be stopped by a massive cake. Her head was completely buried inside the cake as her body hung dangling from the sides, and the one who caused this was…

"Shirou! Now that you're here, fight me!" shouted out Natsu.

I was still stunned; currently Lucy was inside a cake unconscious, yet no one in the guild even moved to help her. It should be noted that Erza was currently eating this cake and sat there unfazed. '_Maybe this was a regular occurrence_… _as if', _I chuckled silently to myself. This had to be some kind of comedy scene they were trying to set up for me. I decided to play along; it was only right for me to do so.

"Does this mean you have beaten Erza in a fight already? I believe that was the condition for facing me," I said coolly.

"Oh! That's right!" replied Natsu as he smashed his fists together in a burst of flames.

It seemed he has decided on his next target; without a second delay, Natsu rushed off towards Erza who was currently finishing a life-sized cake by herself.

"Erza! It's time fulfill your promise and fight me!" Natsu charged headlong at Erza.

"Not now you imbecile! Can't you see I'm busy?" her voice was full of irritation, there was no doubt she was furious at being interrupted.

Natsu did not stop his approach, but before his fist could make any contact with Erza, she stood up and swiftly delivered a side kick right into Natsu's sternum. Like a game of pool where Natsu was the ball and Erza's foot being the stick, Natsu was thrown across the room in one solid direction. It was lucky that Natsu didn't crash into any of the furniture or walls because that would've completely devastated them; instead Natsu was stopped head-first by the side of Gray's head.

"You bastard, you've done it now," said Gray as he rubbed his head.

"It's your fault for being in my way, you naked freak," countered Natsu.

"Uuohh!" screamed Gray in surprise when he noticed that he was only in a pair of briefs.

Another shout was given out by Gray when suddenly Natsu's fist flew right into the centre of his face.

"That's what you get for being unprepared!" laughed out Natsu as he started spitting out flames.

His laugh was short-lived, because the next second Gray spun around and raised his foot to deliver a spin kick to Natsu's head with enough force to have Natsu in the air once again. Twirling through the building, Natsu landed right in the middle of more Fairy Tail members.

And just like a pair of magnets, Natsu and Gray attracted almost everyone in the guild to join their skirmish with some exceptions being Erza, Lucy who was still in the cake, Mirajane and the master Makarov.

With half the guild already drunk even if the sun was still up and with some individuals like Natsu, it was bound to happen. Tables were torn in half, chairs were tossed across the room only to break against another body or the wall; it was total mayhem. If this was supposed to be a family celebration, then this family has some bad blood in it. Without much to do except watch the ongoing destruction, I decided to make my way towards Mirajane and Makarov who were seated at Fairy Tail's own little bar.

"Shouldn't you stop this before someone actually gets hurt, or before the entire guild is burnt down?" I asked Mirajane.

Before she could answer, her head had deflected the attack of a wooden chair that had to have been moving faster than any baseball player could throw a fast pitch. Blood trickled down her forehead as she maintained her friendly smile… _frightening_.

"My oh my, even though everyone's having so much fun, it looks like I'm going to have to sleep for now," apologetically replied Mirajane. Her head then promptly connected with the bar table; she was 'sleeping' now.

"Master Makarov? Shouldn't you be stopping them?" I asked the only seemingly sensible person in this mess.

I stood there for a second, waiting for a reply. And then I got one.

"Waaaaaaaaaah!" Rivers of tears made their way down from Makarov's eye as he cried out madly. I guess he couldn't take the amount of money this would take out from his wallet.

Eventually Makarov snapped out of his confusion and wrought out obedience to his wild children. He was as powerful as I had thought; he grew in size to a giant that the guild could barely contain and his voice boomed through the walls so that everyone could listen to him. He was scorching with magic; there was not a single movement in the entire guild, except for Natsu.

It was no problem though for Makarov. Natsu was caught by the giant foot of Makarov and thus, peace was restored to the Fairy Tail guild.

[Scene Break]

"And finally, here is the board where all the jobs and requests are posted!" said Lucy energetically. After Lucy had regained consciousness she finished telling me her offer to give me a tour around Fairy Tail. I graciously accepted; newbies stuck together after all, and this must be the reason why Lucy had been so willing as to help me.

The job notice board was quite filled with quests and missions of all sorts; at least it looked like I wasn't going to be bored anytime soon. I took a brief look over the board and returned my attention back to Lucy.

"I appreciate your help Lucy! You saved me a lot of trouble," I thanked her and she replied with a sunny smile. Lucy seemed to be a kind and caring person, but there was still one thing bothering me about her. "Ah, Lucy, I actually have one more question."

"Huh? Of course, what is it?"

I looked Lucy straight in the eye and put forth a serious appearance. I still haven't seen Lucy's magic abilities for myself. I knew for a fact that some mages could become very secretive about their abilities, and Lucy could very well be one of them. I couldn't risk losing a strong potential ally all because of my curiosity took the best of me. I needed to show Lucy that I didn't mean to humiliate her for asking her this question.

"I was wondering if we could go out one day and then you can show me your magic," I said. I've seen plenty of abilities since arriving in this world and so far they're nothing less than impressive. Lucy was the first Fairy Tail mage I've met, yet I haven't seen what sort of abilities she could use. To be honest, it was an annoying nudge in the back of my brain telling me to discover the sort of magic that Lucy was capable of. I could feel that Lucy had magical talent, but she never showed it. "I'm interested in you; I feel that you're…"

At this point, Lucy's face was stiff as a rock. Her eyes were extremely pale and mouth was closed tight.

"Lucy?"

"If we could go out… go out…" Lucy sounded hysterical as she continued repeating the words I just said. After calling out her name, movement returned to her face; all at once it seemed. She brought up both her hands against her furiously blushed cheeks as she swung her face from side to side. "I'm interested in you… Interested in you… Interested… In me? I'm not ready for this! Kyahh!"

It seems Lucy had lost it; steam exploded from the top of her head as her entire face went red. After her sudden scream, she bolted out the Fairy Tail doors leaving me in a silent confusion.

"Was it something I said?" I let out a sigh as I thought about how I could apologize for my rudeness the next time I see her.

I decided that there was no use wracking my brain about it now as I looked back towards the notice board. I needed a quick job that could earn me enough money to pay my rent; even I got tired of sleeping outside. Before arriving at my Fairy Tail welcome, I rented out the cheapest maisonette house I could find that would satisfy my needs. Basically it would have a bed, and good kitchen space. That's it.

"Hey newbie, I see you're already jumping at the job board already," said a well-endowed brunette. Her clothing choices told me she wasn't afraid of showing off her assets either; her name was Cana Alberona. She was currently holding a half empty barrel of beer; it was actually her fourth one of the day.

"Yeah, people that don't work don't get to eat," I said jokingly. "I actually rented out a place, so I'm going to need to take on a mission to pay it off before interest starts piling."

"That's right! If only some of our members had that attitude!" Cana shot a quick glare at one of the members named Nab wearing tribal clothing. "Hey! If you'd like I'll help ya find a job. It's the duty of the seniors to help ya out after all!"

I nodded in approval at Cana's offer. Fairy Tail members sure were eager to help one another, that is, after they were done brawling with each other.

I told Cana my preferences for a job. Something that was close by Magnolia City so I wouldn't get lost right after I left and anything that would reduce the amount of lives being lost from my assistance. Fortunately, there were very few jobs at fit my description due to the latter of my preferences. Even if they meant less potential jobs, at least there weren't as many people suffering.

"This one sounds right!" I was suddenly drawn to attention by a piece of paper being waved in my face. "Though it might be difficult for someone who just joined the guild."

I took hold of the paper and put it at an arm-length distance away from my face so I could read it.

_Help wanted immediately!_

_Strong individual/s will be required._

_Dark Guild activity detected nearby our village._

_Kidnappings and murders have taken place on our people; it is only a matter of time before our village is completely wiped out._

_We do not have much money, but we will give whatever we can give._

_Reward: 200,000 Jewels_

Other details were given such as location and the name of the person who wrote the request, but after reading those few lines, I was already dead set.

"Thanks for the help, Cana," I gave her a wink before heading towards Mirajane in order to make claims for the request.

"Even though the pay is quite low for its difficulty?"

"I'd do it for free."

"I see, no wonder everyone was excited about you joining," I caught Cara smiling before I walked in the directions of the bar where Mirajane was currently seated.

"Shirou, you have a job in mind already?" asked Mirajane.

"Yes, I'm taking this one here," giving her the paper. I then headed towards the exit of Fairy Tail.

"Hey, leaving already?" It was Jet. "You're going to miss the match between Erza and Natsu!"

I completely forgot about that; after Makarov had stopped the guild rumble, the one versus one between Erza and Natsu was finalized to be an hour from now.

"Not this time, I got a job to do! Put a bet down on Erza for me though," I said as I waved my hand back from the door.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" it was Natsu doing push-ups near the door. "Actually forget about that; Shirou make sure you're back by tomorrow. After Erza's in the hospital recovering, you're next!"

"Sure thing, just make sure you win, Natsu."

I pushed open the twin doors and made my way towards my job.

[Scene Break]

It was a small village past the outskirts of the east forest of Magnolia; with a population of less than two hundred, it was easy to understand why these villagers would need help. I had arrived two hours after I had left the Fairy Tail guild; the sun was still high up in the sky.

Entering the village I could already sense the unease of everyone around me, they were fearful. I sternly pushed towards the centre of the village where the chief who sent out the request could be found. The building he wasn't anything luxurious, instead it looked like a small hut.

I showed the two guards situated on either sides of hut my newly acquired Fairy Tail mark and entered inside through the curtains that made up the entrance. The inside was quite bland as well, there were few decorations hung up on the walls consisting of hunting weapons such as spears and the skulls and remains of some unknown beast.

The village chief was a short and elderly man who looked as though he could barely move a finger. He was bald except for two spots of hair that looked like devil horns and the tufts of hair on the side of his chin. He was wearing a mantle that stretched from neck to toe as he sat on a large wooden chair at the back on the room.

"My name is Shirou Emiya, I am from Fairy Tail and I have heeded your request," I said bowing my head to the elder in front of me.

"Ah, yes, I thank you and your guild for the hasty response," he replied in a generous voice. "My name is Byro, welcome to our little village Shirou."

The elder named Byro slightly bowed his head in return. Despite his status as a village chief, he seemed more like a compassionate and loving grandfather.

"Tell me everything I need to know, I'll make sure to protect the villagers and everyone that has been affected," I got straight to the point. Every second wasted was more depression for the villagers and pain for those captured by the criminals.

Byro kindly smiled and told his story.

It wasn't the first time that this village had been targeted by the Dark Guild. Three years ago was when they first struck, and when they did, it was hell. Previously this village had been one of the most prosperous in the area; it was getting a lot of revenue from trading with Magnolia City which was nearby. It was more a trade village than anything, specializing in creating magical items called Lacrimas due to the natural landscapes around them that allowed for crafting them. Due to the village's success, it became a target of a Dark Guild known as the Naked Mummy. When they first invaded, the village was able to fend them off, but at the cost of many lives. The second time around, the village was plundered and burnt down; children were captured and nothing worth taking was left. The once peaceful village had changed into a burning hellhole; bodies were left to rot, and no one capable of resisting was left. Before help could arrive, the Naked Mummy guild took off with their captures and loot, disappearing without a trace.

They've done this each year, robbing the village of any chances of success, yet still the main headquarters of Naked Mummy could not be found, not until today. Hidden under the guise of being a deserted town to the east of the village, their main headquarters remained safe from the eyes of the Magic Council and Law enforcements. It was only recently detected after a suspect was followed to the site; requests for help were sent out just yesterday to the Fairy Tail guild.

It's believed captured victims were being held here for unknown reasons; it couldn't be anything good. From the scout that found the Dark Guild, from their information, there were at minimum a hundred of members defending and running the headquarters.

"I'll be honest, I was hoping for an entire team to come," said Byro. "But I can see that you are no normal individual. Any typical person would show fear or sympathy for our situation; you though, look like the same as you have when you entered. As you may know, our reward is not that generous for the dangers that come with this request. Are you sure you're still up for this job?"

"Hearing your story won't change anything," I bluntly replied. "I will stop this Dark Guild, and return peace to your village even at the cost of my life."

Byro stared intently into my eyes; looking for any sorts of deception or lies, he would of course find none. For a few seconds this continued, and then the unforeseeable happened. Byro slowly stood up on fell to his knees, touching his head the ground.

"I trust you, I trust you with our future," cried out Byro. "Five years ago when Naked Mummy first attacked our village, they took my granddaughter and that was the beginning of the end. My granddaughter is the only family I have left… and I'm not even certain that she still remains in this world. I've felt helpless ever since, watching my family and friends disappear before my eyes. I cried for help, I requested for backup, but never could anyone do anything to help us. I'm haunted by nightmares day and night; the scene of them taking away my granddaughter replays itself over and over; I feel like I'm going mad. Now that we have found the bloody guild, I would be hunting down these criminals myself if only my body were to function properly, but I can't do any of that no more. The men of the villagers also need stay to protect the village; we can only rely on you now, Shirou!"

Not once did Byro raise his head from the ground. He was cemented in his bowing position as he pleaded to me. I could barely contain my rage; to destroy the peace this village once had, what kind of evil-beings made up the Naked Mummy? It didn't matter finding out what sort of people they were, their guild was going to be destroyed soon enough.

"Byro, raise your head," he slowly abided, looking up at my face. "I will get rid of the reason for your nightmare."

I spun around and opened the curtains to the exit as my red cloak billowed from behind me. There will be no more light for the Naked Mummy guild.

[Scene Break]

The air surrounding the road through the surrounding forest was cooling down. There was a dark feeling that was floating around this area; I was near. The sun was still adrift in the sky, but in a few hours it would be overtaken by the lovely moon. Still, the sun shined downwards through the tower of trees, making soft pillars of light onto my body.

After clearing through another dense area of trees, a wide opening appeared containing a run-down town. The buildings looked ancient with moss and vegetation growing on their sides, and the pavements that once made up the streets appeared to be in ruin. It was a perfect place for a hide-out; no one would expect there to be a whole organization in this soundless town. With that being said, it was most likely that Naked Mummy had its business done underground.

I stealthily set foot into the town, completely erasing any presence I had. My breathing was silent and my footsteps might as well have been made by a ghost.

Now a single sound could be heard besides the occasional chirps from the birds up in the sky. The criminals were definitely proficient in their secrecy.

I poured prana into my ears, reinforcing my hearing to whole new levels. The movement of leaves from the far off trees, the wind pushing against the walls of the buildings, the flapping of wings from the birds, all of these could be heard, and finally, the sound of clattering machinery.

_Bingo_. It was coming from deep underground a wide building located further into town.

I wasted no time and silently dashed towards the building, as I got closer there was a front and back entrance. Still, no one was in sight; these people weren't taking their chances with anything.

Without any sorts of obstructions, I warily entered through the backdoors. After closing the doors behind me, there were two paths for me to take; a hallway moving forward and a staircase leading downstairs to where the machinery could be heard. Taking my chances, I swiftly dashed down the stairs to observe what the criminal organizations were up to.

"Hurry your asses up!"

"We've got a deadline to reach, work harder!"

Shouts from few individuals with a commanding tone rang throughout the massive hall where in one half of the room people were lined up much like an assembly line putting together materials into an orb of some sort, and the other half was made up of people breaking down large crystal rocks manually with picks and hammers.

These people were most likely those kidnapped by the Naked Mummy guild. There were approximately fifty of them throughout this room. The slave workers were made up of all kinds of people; men, women and children. The children spread throughout the factory look beyond exhausted; most of them could barely stand, yet they were still forced to continue on without any breaks. If any were to fall, the men who I presumed to be Naked Mummy members would probably beat them till they got up. I could feel my fists clenching themselves white; the scene before me was unforgivable.

"Hey you!" I was instantly alerted by another shout; after pinpointing the source I realized it wasn't directed at me.

The source of the shout was a thin, bald man with a face which resembled a chimpanzee. Looking at it seemed to piss me off even further. In front of him was a young female probably in her early teenage year kneeling on the ground. She was wearing a worn out rag for clothes and strapped to her back was a large back of crystals.

"It's you again… How many times do I have to tell you to stand back up?" The man yanked the hair of the female and began dragging her off towards a secluded corner. "We're on a tight schedule here, and people like you are slowing us down! I'll have to teach you a lesson…"

The girl neither fought back nor voiced her pain at being dragged by the hair; instead she remained quiet as if resigning herself to her fate. How long had she been here to look so defeated? How many times has she been abused and beaten due to the madness of these fiends?

Before I knew it I was sprinting towards the girl regardless if I was seen or not. I highly doubted it though, to the naked eye, my figure would look like nothing more than a passing blur.

From behind the dark corner the man raised his hand to strike the girl. Mere milliseconds before it made contact with the girl's face I grabbed his wrists and twisted it behind the man's back which dislocated his shoulders. His arm was nothing more than dead weight; maybe next time he'd think twice about hitting a defenseless girl.

The man could only stare in disbelief; it happened so fast the neurons in his brain weren't capable of sending the necessary electrochemical signals for the man to react accordingly. When his pain receptors were finally activated, his mouth opened wide to voice a scream.

I slammed the palm of my hand into his opening mouth, breaking several of his teeth in the process. Without any hesitation, I forced his entire head into the stone wall behind him, rendering him completely unconscious. I released my grip and he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

I knelt down to the girl and brushed aside her drooping hair that covered her face.

"I'm Shirou Emiya, from Fairy Tail. Are you alright?"

"Yes…" she meekly replied. The girl had long brown hair that was kept down and if not for her restless eyes and dirtied face she'd look like any other normal girl. "You shouldn't have done that… They'll torture you and me… they'll kill you…"

The girl broke down into tears as she brought her hands up to cup her face. She was shivering immensely as her thin, frail body convulsed from crying. I wrapped both my arms around her small body bringing her closer to me.

"Do you wish to escape?" I tenderly asked. "Do you wish to fight and run away from this nightmare?"

The girl shook her head against my chest.

"I can't… I can't run… They threatened me and everyone here that if we run, they would kill all of us and then everyone in the village," she whimpered. So I was right, these fifty or so people were victims from the village before. "I don't want to see anyone I love die in front of my eyes anymore. So I can't run away, I have to remain here."

I gritted my teeth as I tried pushing back the murderous intent escaping my body. I would save everyone here no matter what.

"What is your name?" I asked the girl softly.

"Coco…" the girl forced her name out of her mouth while still crying.

"Coco… That's a beautiful name."

The crying suddenly came to a stop as the girl adjusted herself in my arms to peer up at my face.

"It's been such a long time since anyone's called my name," Coco said with a much more lightened voice.

"Coco, when was the last time you've been outside of this place?"

"I think it's been over a year since they stopped letting me go outside to transport materials inside," Coco replied. "My body has been getting weaker lately, and they forced me inside here after they figured I couldn't work fast enough."

I suppressed another grimace after hearing that. Coco didn't need to see more anger, what she needed now was the compassion that was robbed from her for the past few years.

"I see… Do you want to go outside, Coco?"

"I can't! I have to stay here and follow orders," she replied with more tears welling in her large brown eyes.

"I'm not asking about what you think is impossible or possible," I strengthened the tone in my voice. I couldn't help someone who didn't want to be helped. "I'm asking if you wish to go outside once again. I'm asking if you wish to return to your village with your friends and family to regain your once normal lives, I'm asking you, Coco, if you wish to truly live again."

Tears gushed out from Coco's eyes, but this time it wasn't from despair, it was hope.

"I do… I do!" she cried. "I want to live, but it's impossible! Many have tried escaping before, but it all ends up the same way…"

Her eyes darted to the sides as she recalled painful memories of her past.

"Say, Coco," I regained her line of sight. "Do you believe in heroes?"

She continued looking into my eyes as if pondering why I would ask such a question.

"I want to… but not once in my three years here has a hero come to save us…"

"Then Coco, believe in them one final time, believe in me," I released my embrace and grasped her shoulders. "Believe in me and I promise that I will release you from this nightmare."

I slowly stood up and looked towards the rest of the peoples being worked like slaves.

"After I finish dealing with the Naked Mummy members here, I want you to get everyone else out of here and head back towards the village," I told her. "Do you think you can do that?"

She looked reluctant but still gave me a firm reply.

"Mmm!"

[Scene Break]

It's been about fifteen minutes since Coco began rounding everyone up to escape. I had already cleared out the remaining Naked Mummy members that were present in the hall and piled their unconscious bodies in the corner. After witnessing how easily I took down the criminals, the people were more than willing to cooperate in escaping from their clutches.

Once everyone was gathered we hurriedly escaped through the back entrance once again. Moving half a hundred people was no easy feat and we lost valuable seconds to escape undetected. With my reinforced ears, I could already hear the sounds of hasty footsteps approaching us; looks like I would have to deal with them sooner than I expected.

"Well, well look what we have here," a large man with blonde spiky hair shouted out. "Well, well look what we have here."

"Nii-san, you just said that," another large man with blue afro stated as he looked at the unresponsive group of people. "Do I smell a rebellion?"

Behind the two large men was a cohort of at least a hundred men; all sharing the same facial feature of a primate. Actually, scratch that description which would be rude to the primates. These beings before me were nothing less than monsters. I and Coco were able to move the group of people halfway through the deserted town, and there was no way they could outrun the members of Naked Mummy in their current conditions. I stepped up towards the group of criminals.

"Looks like you saved me the trouble of finding you guys," I sadistically said as I gave a wry smile. "Coco, get everyone out of here."

I realized Coco wanted to object to my idea, but before she could the blue afro man which I'm guessing was the leader laughed out loud.

"And what can one puny man do against my army of a hundred!" his laughter was echoed by his other members as they drew forth their weapons.

They all carried what looked like long double barrel pistols that contained magical properties from what I could make out of it. It appeared as though our battle would consist of long range weaponry then.

_Trace On_. I projected my weapons not in my hands, but throughout the air in a ten metre radius around me. My prana was being consumed in order recreate the material composition and design of multiple weapons I had retained in my mind. Tens of swords continued projecting everywhere around me, until their numbers reached close to a hundred. The weapons remained afloat in the air as they blocked out the remaining rays of light from the sun in the distant. Their silvery gleams reflected in the now fearful eyes of my opponents.

"Freeze out. Continuous fire!"

A few tried reacting by firing their weapons at me; only grazing my hair and clothes at best before a storm of weaponry hailed down on them. The howls from the speed the weapons were moving at filled the once solemn air. I could feel my circuits demanding more and more prana from each sword or spear I retraced to have fired again, but the amount of prana that was expended was miniscule. Explosions of steel blades pierced through the enemies' arms and legs as their screams could be heard over the impacts of the weapons; I of course avoided fatal points though. After all, I was a genuine Fairy Tail member now. Few were left remaining, and this including the leader and his so-called older brother; it was almost over.

"Stop right there you bastard!" a lashing shout came from behind me. "Return all your weapons!"

I turned around and my worst possible fear came to life. I was confident that I would be able to handle the Dark Guild on my own. I could handle injuries that were unfathomable to some individuals. All this meant nil when they could take the innocent lives around me.

"Do it now before I kill this girl!" it was the bald man that I had first knocked out, and locked around his hand holding a pistol was Coco. His other hand was still loosely hanging from when I dislocated it, but all he needed was one arm. The others with Coco also seemed to have been rooted in place. They were gripped by the overwhelming fear of defying the Naked Mummy…

"Don't do it Shirou!" cried out Coco, it was the loudest the girl had ever spoken. "If all it took was my life to save the lives of all my other friends and family members… Then I would gladly give it up!"

"Shut up! Do it now or I'll shoot!"

"Shirou!"

For a flash moment I held the thought of continuing the attack on the Naked Mummy members. Was saving Coco's life worth potentially sending the rest of the innocent victims to an eternal life of slavery? Even Coco understood this; her life for the lives of fifty.

_The wish of wanting everyone to be happy is merely a fairy tale._ I remembered the words of my future self. I chuckled silently as I realized how fitting the word 'fairy tale' was to me now. I am driven by the singular belief to help those in need, even if I have to pass through the depths of hell, I would not stop. I would continue to struggle even for my flawed beliefs. After coming to this world; in such a short amount of time I was able to regain that determination. My beliefs, they're definitely not wrong.

The wall of weapons behind and on the ground in front of me vanished before the eyes of everyone. The remaining conscious members of Naked Mummy slowly got to their feet as they once again readied their weapons.

"I'm getting a promotion for this right boss?" the bald member boldly said.

"Don't get too cocky now," smiled the blue afro leader.

They aimed their weapons at me and rapidly fired.

Each round contained a condensed ball of magical energy, and each of them detonated once they made connection with my body. Each blast seared the surface of my body, even with maximum reinforcing.

"Shirou…"

I was still facing Coco and I could see tears flowing from her eyes.

I weakly smiled at her while I could barely remain standing on my feet. Pain erupted all over my body; no area was free from the onslaught that the members of Naked Mummy were releasing on me. I wanted to run, I wanted to end the scorching agony, but in the end, I would remain standing here until the last moment. I promised to Coco.

Just when I was beginning to lose vision of everything around me something I never expected occurred right before my eyes.

She was crying, she was scared, but her determination outshone all of those. Coco opened her mouth wide and bit down as hard as she could on the hands holding the pistol.

The man yelped in pain as blood started trickling down from his hands. His other arm was completely useless at this point; all he could do was violently thrash about in hopes of getting her to stop.

"You bitc…" He was swiftly interrupted by a fury of punches to his own head, leaving him once again unconscious.

The people Coco was leading had decided to take matters into their own hands, literally.

"We can't stand around and see those trying to save us die," said one of the young men. "We'll fight for our own freedom as well!"

The mob of fifty charged at the remaining members of Naked Mummy with a loud way cry that shook away any fears they might have had. Instead their fears were forced onto the awaiting criminals.

They rushed past me grabbing whatever guns they could find lying on the ground from the motionless members, and began firing at the dozen or so remaining.

With a battle of fifty versus twelve, a conclusion was swiftly brought upon. The Naked Mummy organization was destroyed by what they considered slaves, and now they lay half-dead as their bodies smoked from being blasted excessively from their own guns.

[Scene Break]

"Shirou… Are you sure you're okay?" Coco asked.

We were currently nearing the village with me, Coco and the rest of the villagers; there were also other guests. About a hundred or so members of the Naked Mummy trailed from behind with their arms bound behind their backs with a make-shift rope I had projected. Occasionally there would be one of two who would try escaping, but they ultimately succumbed to their fates after seeing what I did to them as a result of trying.

"Don't worry, I'm built strong," I said as I flexed my arm up in the air. To be honest, I was quite drained of strength, but I had to remain seemingly strong until this was over.

"Heheh, just don't push yourself too much," Coco giggled.

"Yes that's the way it should be," I said.

"What do you mean?" Coco asked.

"You should always be smiling," I replied. Coco had finally smiled, and when she did she reminded me of a sweet little puppy; someone that would instantly raise a protective instinct from you. "You're free now Coco, you can run wherever and whenever you please from now on."

"Thank you… Shirou."

[Scene Break]

When the large group of us entered the village at the brink of twilight, celebrations could be heard from miles away. Tears were common as husband and wife reunited, or parents and child; it was a lovely heart wrenching scene. It would almost be perfect, except for the members of Naked Mummy who were now tied up in chains, kneeling in the centre of the village under the watchful eyes of the guards.

I decided to report back to the village chief, and Coco had decided to follow me. I had a growing hunch that there was a reason why she was doing so. Pushing aside the curtain fabrics that made up the entrance to the chief's hut, I stepped inside.

"Byro, I have finished the mission and eliminated the Naked Mummy guild that threatened the peace in your village," I stated.

"Shirou Emiya… I have no enough words to show you my gratitude. To have wiped out an entire Dark Guild in a quarter of a day, you're beyond amazing," said Byro as he wiped away a few tears hat he had shed. "Thank you, Shirou. Thank you so much. You have our eternal gratitude."

"I wish to give you a reward that is worth all you have done for us," Byro said. "We still have little reserve funds that we have for emergencies, I want you to take it. From now on we can work to rebuild our village to what it was before, all because of you Shirou."

"Byro… I don't need anything more than what we had originally agreed on," I said as I shook my head. "Just being able to see the fruit of my labor is more than enough for me."

"Shirou…" Coco silently whispered behind my back.

"While we're on this issue about money, I have more good news," I said to Byro smiling. "When examining the Naked Mummy hideout, I discovered that they had large stockpiles of what I believe to be the Lacrimas you were talking about. It looks like they were planning on making money off of what your people were doing. There appears to be numerous storages full of them, and since they should belong to you in the first place, I believe you should have full rights to what should be done with them. Byro, I hope you succeed in turning this village into what your dreams envision it to be."

"Shirou, you never cease to amaze me," Byro said with gratitude in his voice.

"It was my job, and it way my promise, Byro, to bring peace to this village. Also, I couldn't have done it without the strength of your own people," I bowed my head and went on to the next issue. "I believe someone else besides me has something to tell you."

I grabbed hold of Coco who was behind my back and ushered her forward. She gasped as she was unsure of what to do in her current situation.

"Coco…?" Byro said as if trying to determine if it were a fake or illusion before him.

"I-I-I'm home… Grandpa…" tears trailed down both Byro's and Coco's faces as they tried stifling an outburst of a cry.

It had been three long years since the two of them have seen each other's face. The two of them only had each other as the only remaining family from what Byro had told me. They both had no idea if either of them had departed from this world, but now that fear was dispelled. Years of pent up yearnings for the warmth of family in their darkened times now came out all at once as they looked joyfully into one another's eyes. The nightmares the two of them experienced were now something of the past; they're tears of happiness told the whole story. There was nothing greater than the love of family

"Welcome back… Coco."

[Scene Break]

"Byro, I leave the fate of the members of Naked Mummy in your hands," I was now standing at the outskirts of the village.

"Don't worry about that Shirou, we have already contacted the Magic Council," Byro replied smiling. "Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?"

"I'll be fine, I actually just rented out a place and wanted to see how it fares," I said with a grin.

"Shirou!" it was Coco who came running from the inside of the village. I was originally going to tell her I was going, but I figured she would already be asleep from the long day, and years for that matter, that she's had. "You're leaving already?"

It was dark outside, but I could still see the disappointment outlined on her face. I reached out with my hand and patted her gently on the head.

"Yes, my job is finished after all."

"I see…"

"What's with the sad face? That's not what I wanted to see before I leave!" I brashly told her. I increased the intensity of my patting and began ruffling her hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Coco said as she tried containing her giggle.

"That's more like it," I said. "Coco, if you're ever in trouble, don't hesitate to run for help or run for me. I'll always have time to help you."

Maybe I was trying hard to sound like a hero, but I couldn't help myself. It was practically genetically built into me to act accordingly.

"Mmm!" replied Coco with a smile. "Bye-bye, Shirou!"

"It's not 'bye', it's 'see you later'. It's not the last time we're going to meet each other," I happily said.

"Oh! That's right! See you later, Shirou!" It would be hard to believe that Coco had a disappointed face a minute ago from the expression she had on now.

"See you later!"

I waved to Byro and Coco who were both there to see me off and then I began making my way back home.

"Thank you, my hero!"

[Scene Break]

Around two hours after midnight was when I arrived in my newly rented home. With 200,000 Jewels in my pocket, I had enough to rent out this fabulous place for two months. Its bed looked quite comfortable compared to the grass beds I was previously using, and though the kitchen itself appeared completely outdated without any electricity, I had no problems with it at all! The location of the house was also quite to my taste, it sat along a riverbank between a neighborhood of houses like mines.

Not bad for what it had cost (80,000 Jewels). It was late at night so I hadn't had the time to shop for ingredients, so I guess I would have to wait until tomorrow before I could eat.

I was close to collapsing after the events that unfolded today; now all I wanted to do was lay on my fresh new bed. I crept over and rested down in the position a starfish would take as I closed my eyes.

"…"

Mumbling sounds could be heard. I tried ignoring it at first, but to no avail. Irritably I sat up from my bed and walked over to the window and opened it; the sound was coming from my neighbour next door.

"Hey jerk! It's the middle of the night, quiet down will you!" I hated to make a bad impression with my neighbour right off the bat, but I seriously wanted to sleep.

"…" more mumbled voices and scrambling could be heard as my neighbor made their way to their own window which was directly across from my own. "What did you just call me?"

Surprisingly enough… It was a beautiful blonde in a skimpy pink silky nightgown.

"Lucy?"

"Sh-Sh-Shirou?" she cried out in surprise. "What are you doing there? Don't tell me you've gone as far as to stalk me in the middle of the night?"

I had no idea what she was talking about. Just as I was thinking about that, she peered down at what she was wearing.

"Kyah!" she brought both her hands up and across to cover herself and ducked under the window so only her bright red face could be seen.

_I see… She must still be mad about this afternoon._

"About earlier this afternoon," I said out loud to her. This quickly brought her to attention as she intently listened in anticipation. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for asking about your magic."

"Huh? My magic?" Lucy asked in confusion. I guess she wanted a clearer apology; she's a hard one.

"Before, I rudely asked for you to show me your magic because I'm actually very interested in what abilities you may have," I firmly said. "I should've known that you must've wanted to keep it a secret, I'm very sorry!"

I gave a slight bow.

"So that's what it was about…" Lucy said disappointingly with a sigh. "If you want to see my magic, I'll show it to you anytime!"

With a sudden burst of anger, Lucy grabbed a nearby pillow on her bed and flung it straight at me.

My face took to full brunt of the attack as I could feel a slight imprint of a pillow on my face.

"Bweeeh!"

Lucy squinted her eyes and stuck out her tongue at me. She then followed up by slamming her window shut.

_What just happened?_

As if the night sky filled with glittering stars had my answer, I gazed up in wonder.

**Chapter 4 End**

Author Notes:

There could be grammar/spelling mistakes which I will eventually get to fixing; quality slightly dropped cause I'm busy watching the Olympics. Canada finally got something other than bronze, woohoo!

A little side-story before head into the main arc. Felt wrong sending Shirou into something major without something in between. As mentioned in the beginning, Coco is actually in the new filler arc of the anime, dammit!

Shirou is now Lucy's neighbor, so he can eavesdrop on plans without breaking into her house like the other characters.

Demon island arc starts next chapter!

Once again, thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you see any mistakes, wrong information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	6. Hero's Tail: Save the Demon Island 1

**Hero's Tail: Chapter 5**

[STORY START]

The bag piped out minor assemblies of small dots along the seams between the tiers. With pin-point accuracy of a master, I filled the gaps between each of the blobs coming out of the bag; there would be absolutely no mistakes.

I grabbed another bag full of a pasty yellow cream and began gently exerting a small amount of force on the bag to begin on the next step. The small dots being formed from the bag were now equally spaced apart rather than connected. This step was then repeated multiple times with different matching colors to give a rather light, peaceful effect.

Now for the finishing touches; I grabbed the bag filled with a light buttery green paste and created leaf-like imitations along the edge of the tiers. Following that, I grabbed an entire assortment of colors, and added blooming roses to each of the leaves.

"It's perfect…" I said out loud in amazement. Two colossal sized cakes had been brought into existence.

I had secluded myself in my kitchen for the past couple hours creating this piece of art that sat before me now. Given that I had such a small amount of time to complete what I had set out to do, it was quite an accomplishment for me. Light from my open windows was beaming down onto my creation as I began getting the necessary materials to package the cakes.

[Scene Break]

About four hours ago, I woke up as the sun just rose slightly above the city; illuminating it to reveal the cities magnificent structures. Being an early-riser that I am, I had then proceeded to head down to the Fairy Tail guild.

When I had arrived, there was practically no one there besides some of the older individuals. After properly introducing myself, whom I hadn't really gotten the chance to before, they congratulated me on my first successful mission; it seems words got around fast in this guild. They also told me some interesting things that I missed yesterday due to my mission.

"Erza and Natsu are currently being held in prison, but they'll be back probably in the afternoon!" said a mature looking man named Macau. "These young'ins are always up to trouble."

"You got that right! It's up to us older generations to keep em in check!" laughed Macau's drinking partner, Wakaba.

After I had left for my mission yesterday, Erza and Natsu began their fight, and when they did they had been apprehended by the Magic Council. It seems they had blamed Erza for the destruction caused at the stations of the cities damaged by the now extinct Eisenwald guild. Natsu, being the person that he is, intruded into the courtroom scene to save Erza, which resulted in the two of them being thrown into prison for the night. It seems the whole thing was just a formality for the Magic Council to show their power; quite troublesome, another reason why I'd stay away from politic.

Thinking about the situation, I realized there was something I could do for Erza and also Natsu who took the blame for something which could not have been avoided.

I bid farewell the present members in the guild in the early morning and rushed towards the open market place in search of particular supplies. Once the materials were collected, I returned back to my small home along the riverbank and began my objective. Needless to say, It was a fun two hours.

[Scene Break]

I awkwardly made my way towards the Fairy Tail guild while carrying a ginormous white box in each hand. I took up entire walkways as civilians had to step aside onto the roads as I casually walked with both arms outstretched to the sides so the boxes would not block my vision.

After reaching the path in front of Fairy Tail, a familiar face came into sight which I had seen last night.

"Good afternoon, Lucy!" I called out.

The stunning blonde shifted her head to my direction and stared at me blankly as I made my way towards her and the door.

"Could you get the door for me? I have my hands full," I said happily as I gave her a wide smile.

Besides the low-quality meal I made back in Mt. Hakobe, this was the first time the members of Fairy Tail would experience my genuine cooking skills; I was quite excited.

"Hmph!" was Lucy's only reply.

Without even acknowledging my presence, Lucy barged into Fairy Tail and left me alone outside.

_Sigh…_ Hopefully I could obtain her forgiveness for whatever I did last night, which still remains a mystery, after giving her a gift I had prepared just for her. Besides the two noticeable boxes I was carrying; in my right hand was a small bag holding something else I made.

Without further ado, I clumsily pushed open the double doors leading into Fairy Tail using the back of my body.

Just like yesterday, the entire guild was in an uproar; I suppose it wasn't surprising after what happened to Erza and Natsu the day before. The two of them now have returned, and by the looks of it, Natsu had a new appreciation for freedom.

"Freedom is wonderful! FREEEEEEDOOOOM!" shouted out Natsu.

Natsu ran around the guild like a child during recess as he cheerfully spewed out fire from his mouth. Erza was sitting by herself near the edge of one of the tables with Gray on the other side and Lucy standing around while moping.

I decided it was now or never, and made my way towards Erza and company.

"Erza! Congratulations on being released, I hope the night in prison gave you time to think about the crimes you caused," I said jokingly.

"What's it to you? Are you insinuating something?" Erza replied with a snarl. "And what's with those suspicious boxes you're carrying?"

"See for yourself," I carefully placed both boxes in front of Erza, while keeping the bag containing Lucy's gift still in my hand.

Most of the guild had stopped what they were originally doing and made their way towards us in curiosity.

Cautiously, Erza slowly lifted the cover which hid what was underneath. The guild was silent as Erza had her sword ready from the corner of her eye. When the base of the cake made itself known to everyone, the wariness Erza originally had disappeared as she ripped the box to shreds. The other box shared the same fate.

The two cakes made up of three tiers stood over a meter tall and were white in color with yellow, green and red decorations made from a sweet cream.

Both cakes seemed to dazzle in the spotlight as everyone stood in awe at what was brought to the table. I don't want to sound conceited, but compared to the cakes yesterday at my welcoming party; these cakes were of higher level quality.

"I was also involved in the Eisenwald incident, so I don't think it was fair that you were to take full blame. I wanted a way to repay you, and also everyone in Fairy Tail for the warm welcome," I said as I glanced around and addressed the members in the room. "That's why I baked these in order to show my appreciation, so don't hesitate to dig in!"

"Shirou… I knew you were a great cook, but to make something so magnificent!" shouted out Levy from within the mob.

"Seriously?" inquired Grey in surprise.

Cries of excitement could be heard throughout the room as everyone discussed how more popular Fairy Tail would get with a connoisseur of pastries. I stood at the exact same spot slightly gloating at how impressed everyone seemed to be.

Lucy had appeared to be speechless as she continued to stare at the cakes before her, and beside her Erza still maintained her pose, with one exception.

"Don't think you can just earn our favor by giving us treats," announced Erza. She had the same dignified aura around her, except for the corners of her lips; it was clear she was already drooling. "Your cakes may look remarkable, but taste is the deciding factor when it comes to food."

Erza suddenly conjured a small plate with a fork and cut out a small piece from one of the cakes. With her fork, she quickly brought the piece up into her anxious, quivering mouth and bit down into the pastry.

Silence rang through the room as everyone awaited a verdict from the queen of desserts. I stood confidently with my arms crossed as I looked at Erza bringing her jaw up and down to taste the flavor of the little piece of cake.

"How is it?" the intrigued Natsu had asked after a few seconds of stillness.

Erza's head lowered so her eyes and face were no longer visible as she shook uncontrollably. The Fairy Tal members slightly stepped back in confusion as they feared some sort of retribution that Erza would unleash due to something unsatisfactory about the cake.

Their worries were suddenly increased as Erza fell down onto one of her knees in front of me. Her face was still hidden from the crowd which made it impossible to identify whether her actions were from pain or something else.

"Erza! What's wrong!?" cried out Gray.

"You bastard, don't tell me you've poisoned the cake!" roared Natsu.

"I knew you two started off on the wrong footing with each other… But you couldn't have Shirou!" Lucy said out in worry.

The crowd was becoming restless as a result of Erza's actions, but as quickly as it started, it abruptly came to an end as well.

Erza stretched out one of her hands towards me in an affectionate manner while still kneeling on one knee.

I was getting a bad feeling from this. Sure, I was confident in my cooking skills, but I wasn't expecting this to happen. Erza must really love her cakes. I was growing more nervous by the second; same with the crowd as the atmosphere changed from malicious to wonder.

My worries were brought to life as Erza lifted her gaze to stare into my eyes in a very prince-like manner.

"Shirou Emiya, let's get married," she said very coolly. Her eyes seemed to have twinkled as she gave me her most charming smile with her thin lips.

Time froze as everyone was too shocked to comprehend what just happened. Even I was speechless as I didn't know how to reply to such a direct proposal. I nervously scratched the back of my head and weakly laughed.

"Hahah… th-that's a little too much, d-don't you think?" I stuttered.

No one made a single move for what seemed like eternity; the first one to finally break the drawn out tension was…

"What!?" cried out Lucy in a shriek. This resulted in a chain reaction of surprise throughout the guild.

"The strongest woman married to one of the strongest man," said Jet incredulity.

"They would have the strongest children…" said Droy who was next to Jet with his mouth wide open.

"You can't be serious, Erza!" shouted out Gray. "Just moments ago you were irritated at Shirou for even approaching you, now you're proposing to him?"

Erza stood up from her kneeling position and brushed off the dirt from the edges of her skirt as she stared blankly at Gray.

"You're a man, so shouldn't you know Gray?" she calmly questioned Gray over the mayhem of shock that now plagued the members of Fairy Tail. "The best way to a man's heart is by making them cake."

"First of all, you're a woman and secondly you completely butchered the original saying," replied Gray as he delivered himself a swift face palm.

I'm guessing Erza saw herself as the man and I would be the female in this relationship. Definitely not something I was too fond of; I had to change the topic before it got any more awkward.

"Well, there should be enough for everyone so don't hold back," I quickly said.

"I'll let you off this time, Shirou. But don't even think of running away now that you've shown your true colors," replied Erza as she picked up one of the cakes and went off into her own secluded table.

Without needing to say anymore, the guild members began gathering plates to take slices of cake to devour. After seeing Erza's reaction, they were more than eager to accept my gift for them.

"Are you serious? I heard Shirou recently took out a Dark Guild by himself in one night, and now he's also suddenly a great cook?" said an individual with long black uncombed hair and clothes which resembled a cowboy. I believe his name was Alzack.

"He's a true man! The diet of a man is an important step in making a man!" shouted out a tall, muscular and tanned man with white hair named Elfman, who also happened to be Mirajane's brother. "He also looks like a man!"

It seems that this Elfman character's purpose in life was to become the ideal man. Because I had a similar outer appearance as him, meaning the tanned skin, white hair and tall height, I'm guessing he felt a bond towards me; not that I minded.

"Hmmm, looks like I'm going to have some competition from now on," exclaimed a slim male with orange hair and also wore azure tinted shades. He was the playboy of Fairy Tail named Loke; there was something odd about the magical powers I felt from him. It was rude to pry, so I left it at that.

"This is the best!" shouted out Natsu who was currently eating the cake I made while setting it on fire.

I gave everyone a hearty smile as they complimented my baking and cooking skills. There was not much in life that was better than seeing others enjoy your cooking that you put your blood, sweat and tears into.

There was one particular person that did not voice much of their opinion though, as expected. I scanned the room until I found her and discovered that she was merrily eating some cake. Each bite she had of the cake, her face lit up in bliss. Though the moment she noticed me staring, her mood suddenly turned sour.

"Lucy," I said as I walked over to where she was seated. "How do you like it?"

"It's okay," bluntly replied Lucy. She then muttered beneath her breath, "though I wish… weren't good at cooking so I… meals for you…"

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing!" Lucy said as she waved both her hands in front of her face. She then reverted back to her passive look.

With the bag still in my hand, I brought it up onto the table and placed it in front of Lucy.

"Here, this is my gift to you Lucy!" I said as I motioned for her to open the box inside the bag.

Lucy brought the box closer and lifted the cover to reveal the gift I had made for her; strawberry soufflés. It had a white base with an upper pink portion; I had also taken the liberty of adding cut strawberries on the top to resemble a ribbon. It may have an easy recipe to replicate, but I had almost taken more time in making these than I had on the cakes. I didn't realize I had put so much effort into these, it was an unusual phenomenon. Though it seems my effort had not gone to waste as Lucy's eyes shone while staring into the box.

"I'll admit, I'm not very familiar on the customs that Fiore has, so I'm not certain when I'm being offensive or not," I said, indicating about the event that occurred last night. "That's why I hope you won't find it entirely out of your way to take care of me from now on."

Lucy's gaze shifted from the soufflés to my face; she was staring intently at me as if trying to find some fault in me.

"Hah… I wonder why I find it so hard to stay mad at you, Shirou. But it's not as if you were doing it on purpose, it was my own misunderstanding," Lucy gently said with a sigh. "And don't worry! I'll be on the lookout to make sure you're staying out of trouble."

Lucy gave me a wink and a grand smile which I hadn't seen all day; it was quite refreshing.

"Well, try one out!" I told her. "After seeing your pink Fairy Tail sigil, I'm guessing pink is your favourite color, which is why I made a very pink colored dessert for you."

"Yup! You're right on!" replied Lucy as she brought one of the soufflés to her cherry pink lips.

She continued smiling as her chowed down on the soufflé and strawberries; strangely enough it was pleasant watching this scene before me.

"It's delicious!"

[Scene Break]

Approximately half an hour after everyone began devouring the cakes I brought, the guild had resumed normal activities. These of course included lounging about and drinking beer. I was sitting at the bar with Lucy while having my own pint of beer. I couldn't hold my alcohol as well as Cana could, but now would be a great time to start after seeing that beer-drinking looked to be a tradition around here.

"Say what happened to the duel of men between Erza and Natsu?" asked Elfman. I guess it wasn't just Erza who saw herself as a male rather than a female.

The day before during the match between Erza and Natsu, they were interrupted midway by a messenger of the Magic Council who then proceeded to arrest Erza for trial. It seems a conclusion to the fight had not been declared.

"Oh yeah! I forgot!" shouted out Natsu as he spun towards Erza. "Erza! Let's continue!"

"No… I'm a little full after finishing that cake," replied Erza. Even after finishing an entire cake to herself, she was only 'a little full'.

Of course, Natsu had completely disregarded Erza's reply as he charged full force towards her.

"Here I come!"

A sigh could be heard from Erza's mouth as she got up onto her feet. With remarkable speed, Erza suddenly materialized a metal pole from thin air and swung it like a baseball bat at Natsu's head. It seems that the match between me and Natsu planned after he defeated Erza was still a long way off.

Natsu's body twisted and twined like a spinning top as he was sent flying in the opposite direction while destroying every single piece of furniture in his way. It was no wonder Makarov was always so depressed about money problems.

"If you really want to, then bring it on," said Erza. It was a little too late to be saying that in my opinion as Natsu lay unconscious on the other side of the room.

Everyone who witnessed Natsu getting hit across the room erupted in laughter; even I did as strange as it was. Fairy Tail was beginning to look like a guild full of sadistic individuals. I just hoped the bet on who would win the fight was still going on.

Suddenly without warning, a strange sensation could be felt within my body. An outer source of prana was trying to invade my body; almost subconsciously I began circulating my own prana throughout my circuits in order to reject the foreign intruders. No one else in the guild had suspected that something was about to occur; except for Makarov who was currently seated on top of the bar, and an unknown individual on the second level of the guild. I could feel the rush of prana within their body.

"What's wrong Master?" asked Mirajane from behind the counter of the bar.

"Nothing, just getting sleepy…" replied Makarov. It seems it was a sleeping spell that Makarov recognized. "It's him…"

There were no feelings of fear or aggression coming from Makarov; this was most likely being casted by someone he knows.

"A member of the guild?" I asked Makarov.

Makarov nodded his head as everyone else was suddenly inflicted with an intense lethargy. One by one the members of Fairy Tail dropped to the ground as they were overtaken by the sleeping spell. Only three remained up and awake in the guild; me, Makarov and the unknown individual upstairs.

Finally the individual responsible for the spell entered the guild as most of the Fairy Tail members welcomed him with their peaceful snores. From top to bottom he was covered in a black cloak, pants, hood and muffler which concealed every bit and piece of his body; except his blue bangs and his dark calculating eyes.

For a moment he looked in my direction as he made his way towards the job notice board. I was seated on the stool with my back facing the bar nearby Makarov with one leg crossed over the other and my arms spread wide across the counter. I acknowledged and nodded my head towards him in a friendly manner; likewise he did the same.

"Mystogan…" said Makarov.

Without much thought, the individual Makarov referred to as Mystogan took a request from the board and made his way to Makarov to confirm that he has accepted the mission.

"I'm leaving," was all he said.

"Hey! Release your sleep magic!" said Makarov roughly.

After giving Makarov the request, Mystogan made his way towards the door of Fairy Tail while counting down from five. When the countdown reached one, he had disappeared outside the building and everyone was once again wide awake; except for Natsu.

"What was that?! Shirou, you weren't affected?" Lucy said after waking up from a daze. I had remained exactly how I was before Lucy's head dropped against the counter.

I shook my head as I observed everyone getting up from their slumber.

"Th-this feeling… Was it Mystogan?" asked Levy from a nearby table.

"That punk!" screamed out Jet.

"His sleep magic is so powerful!" said Droy.

"Mystogan?" asked Lucy. It seems she has never met this mysterious individual either.

"He's one of the strongest mage candidates in Fairy Tail," explained Loke. Interesting enough, after replying to Lucy's question, Loke jumped away in fear while holding up his arms in a defensive position. _Was there something about Lucy to be scared about?_

"For some reason, he hates to be seen, so whenever he comes to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep," explained Gray. "That's why only Master knows Mystogan's face."

This Mystogan person sounded very suspicious, and what made it worse was that he was renowned to be one of the strongest; his sleep spell proved that fact.

"Wrong," a stern reply came from the level above. "I know Mystogan's face, and it seems the newcomer caught a bit of it as well. Don't worry about it too much; Mystogan's just a little shy."

As if woken by a fire alarm, Natsu lept back up from his deep sleep at the sound of the man's voice.

"Laxus, you're back?" yelled Natsu while pointing a finger at the blonde spiky haired individual from above. "Fight me!"

"You couldn't even beat Erza, what makes you think you'd stand a chance against me?" said Laxus provoking Natsu. "I am the strongest! Not you, not Erza, not Mystogan or my old geezer can beat me! I'm unstoppable!"

At my side, Erza could be heard clicking her tongue at Laxus' remark.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Makarov's grandson, Laxus Dreyar, one of the other strongest candidates of Fairy Tail," answered Gray. I suppose that explains the power I could feel from this individual.

Despite the differences in their powers, Natsu had no thoughts of backing down.

"Enough with the excuses, come on down you bastard!"

"Why don't you come up?"

It seems Laxus' taunt did the trick as Natsu sprinted towards the stairs leading to the second level. Now that I thought about it, Lucy hadn't shown me what was on the second floor during the tour of the guild.

"You cannot enter the second floor," Makarov had intervened in Natsu's attempt to ascend the stairs. His arm suddenly grew in length and size as it made its way over and pounded down onto Natsu's body. "Not until you're in the S-class."

Natsu was pinned down onto the floor until Makarov returned his arm to normal. It seems the event caused Natsu to settle.

"Dammit…" said Natsu.

"It's too early for you too even think about fighting me," said Laxus with a smirk. "How about you try getting into the S-class first? Hahah!"

As Laxus laughed at Natsu's predicament, Happy and Natsu began whispering to each other. The blue cat nodded repeatedly while Natsu continued uttering into its ear.

Without anyone noticing, except for me and the man named Laxus; the flying blue cat snuck up the stairs and disappeared without a trace.

[Scene Break]

"What is this S-class Makarov was talking about earlier?" I asked Mirajane.

"I was wondering about that too, and what's up on the second floor?" asked Lucy.

The guild was now simmering down as the sky began darkening with the sun's descent. There were now fewer people, and Natsu had already left, making the guild almost silent.

"S-class is the title given to mages of Fairy Tail after being recognized as a capable individual and successfully passing an exam," explained Mirajane as she washed the dishes. I had offered to help, but she completely rejected the idea. "When you join the ranks of the S-class, you are permitted to do the quests which are posted on the job board on the second floor."

"What kind of jobs are they?" I innocently asked.

"They often have to do with exterminating monsters and demons, or saving civilians from great evils. They're much like normal jobs except the risks associated with them are extremely higher; any mistake could mean instant death, which is why only those deemed worthy are able to take them," answered Mirajane. "Of course the rewards will be dramatically increased to compensate for the difficulty."

"I see, so if I want to take on the kind of job I'm looking for, then I have to reach S-class," I said quietly under my breath. "Thanks, Mirajane,"

After talking amongst ourselves and those still present in the guild, both I and Lucy said our farewells to everyone and departed together back towards our homes.

The trip back home was not a far distance away, so walking would only take approximately fifteen minutes. We strolled down the riverbank at a slow pace as we took in our surroundings; it was quite a beautiful night. The moonlight lit the path as it reflected off the calm flowing water.

"Do you want to be an S-class mage?" I asked Lucy.

She brought her index finger up to her mouth as she thought about my question.

"It'd make paying off my rent a lot easier, that's for sure," she said disappointingly. "But if I'm ever strong enough, I think taking on harder missions to help people would be a great thing! What about you, Shirou?"

"Of course, then I'd be able to boss everyone around without any punishments like Erza," I replied.

"Huh?"

"It's a joke."

Lucy's eyes squinted and she pouted her cheeks.

"It's seriously impossible to tell when you're joking or not."

At least now I knew how some of the members of Fairy Tail saw me; some sort of maniac fighter who loves to cook. I suppose it wasn't too far off.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived in front of my small home. There was no longer any sunlight as the street lamps began revealing the quiet roads of Magnolia.

"Shirou, thanks for the desserts today!" said Lucy. "Next time you'll have to try out some of my own desserts that I can cook up!"

"I'll be waiting," I replied as I waved my hands at her from my doorsteps. "Have a goodnight."

"Goodnight, Shirou!"

I twisted the doorknob and entered into my solemn home with one goal in mind. My mind began to race as I mentally pictured what was about to come. Over a week has passed since I had entered Earth Land, yet not once have I had the chance to take a relaxing bath.

I headed straight for the bathroom and jacked up the hot water to the tub; without any time to waste, I quickly unclothed myself and wrapped a small towel around my waist as I prepared to immerse myself into the sweet embrace of heaven. How long had I not experienced the sweet sensation of a bath? How long have I journeyed through lands while my body felt smudged with grime? Tonight would be the end of my misfortune.

The bath was miraculously filled to the brink within seconds; I guess Earth Land prioritized the necessities in life. As I prepared to dip my body into the entrancing warmth of the water, something caught my attention.

"Kyahh!" it was coming from Lucy's house.

I hastily forced prana throughout my circuits and reinforced my ears and body as I moved out of the bathroom and towards the nearest window.

"Someone heeeelp!" there was no doubt now; there was a cry of help from Lucy.

I threw open my window that was across from Lucy's house and dove towards the window directly across from mine. I shielded my face with my crossed arms and bent my legs up towards my chest in order to generate enough force to crash through Lucy's window.

The sound of glass shattering could be heard as my reinforced body blew through the closed window that felt like paper. Shards of glass were scattered all around the room; covering the floors and bed. The once closed window was now nothing more than a gaping hole in the house.

"Lucy! Are you alright?!" I screamed out right as I landed on the tiled floor of her room. In my mind I already had the image of Kanshou and Bakuya ready to be traced in an instant.

I scanned the room and quickly determined where a perfectly fine and healthy Lucy was, who also happened to be standing next to a shirtless Natsu and Happy lifting weights.

For a moment we all looked at one another as we tried to grasp the situation. Seconds ago there was a cry for help from Lucy, and now that I'm here, all I see are Natsu and Happy drenched in sweat as they stared confusingly at me.

I should really try getting used to these awkward situations; I've been facing them quite often lately.

"Hahah… guess you're okay," I uneasily said as large drops of sweat began racing down my head. "Don't worry about the window, I'll pay for it."

"P-p-p-p-p-p…" stuttered Lucy as she broke from her frozen state.

"Huh?"

"PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!" she stammered out as her face flushed a bright red.

Before when I heard the initial scream, I immediately ran out of my bathroom. Now that I thought about it, I didn't have time to put anything on. Other than a small towel which could barely stay wrapped around my waist, I was practically naked.

_Ahh… so that explains Lucy's blushing face_. Looking down at my lower body I could see that only the towel remained. As if sort of comedy god was looking down at this situation; right on cue, the only thing keeping me from being completely nude unraveled and dropped to the floor.

"Natsu, Lucy!" shouted out Happy in excitement. "We have another pervert in the guild!"

[Scene Break]

After speedily jumping out the hole in Lucy's wall and back into my own house, I threw on my dirty clothing and returned to where I left the surprised members of Fairy Tail. There was positively something fishy going on, and I didn't mean the fish Happy carried around in his knapsack. After seeing Happy sneaking up to the second floor of Fairy Tail, I had a hunch about the reason why.

"So, what brings you and Happy to Lucy's so late at night," I asked Natsu as I tried regaining my former composure.

"I was planning on letting you in after informing Lucy, but now that you're here…" exclaimed Natsu. "Happy, show em!"

"Ta-dah!" said Happy as he unrolled a piece of paper in his paw.

It was a job request for the Fairy Tail guild. I took the paper from Happy and shared It between myself and Lucy; it read:

_HELP US!_

_For the past three years there has between a deadly curse that slowly transforms our people into demons; help is required to break the curse! Our people are dying, please save our island!_

_Cursed Island_

"Lucy, Shirou," said Natsu. "Let's do an S-class job!"

Such rashness from Natsu and Happy, even after being pummeled down by Makarov earlier today; it was quite expected of him.

"Wait! How did you get this!?" shouted out Lucy. "I thought we weren't allowed to go up to the second floor!"

"I just took it," explained Happy.

"You thieving cat!

"Anyway, since it's our first S-class job, I chose the one with the cheapest reward!" said Natsu. "It's a 7,000,000 Jewel reward!"

"No! We're not qualified… Though with that kind of money, I'd never have to worry about my rent for years…" said Lucy as if she realized something.

"If we succeed Jii-chan would surely approve of us, right?"

Lucy thoroughly shook her head as if trying to get rid of her negative thoughts.

"This is too reckless!" shouted Lucy. "We should follow the guild rules, right Shirou?"

"Count me in, Natsu," I bluntly said out loud.

"Huh!?" blurted out Lucy.

"I knew you were a smart guy, Shirou!" said Natsu with vigor.

"Aye!" cheered Happy.

Lucy turned her head away from us and puffed her cheeks in irritation.

"Whatever, I'm not going, you three can go," muttered Lucy.

Normally I would have to agree with Lucy about following the rules and guidelines placed on the people, but when it comes to saving lives, risks and dangers will always follow along. I did not act solo in my own world for the sake of following rules; otherwise I would've joined the Association.

"Hah… That's too bad, I guess we'll just give the gold key to Happy," said Natsu sarcastically.

"Aye! I can probably trade it for a lot of fish!"

"What…? The reward also includes one of the golden zodiac keys?" Lucy hesitantly asked. She grabbed the paper for herself and stared deeply into it.

If I remembered correctly, it was by a key that I was summoned into Earth Land. For Lucy to be intrigued by one of these keys; could it be that her magic is related to these keys? Lucy suddenly turned around and brought her hand to her lips as she displayed an innocent and childish face.

"I guess it can't be helped, it's our duty to save this island!"

I sighed and let out a small chuckle at how fast Lucy's attitude completely changed.

[Scene Break]

As dawn broke through the skies we arrived to the port town of Hargeon after travelling through the plains of Fiore in the night. It was a seemingly peaceful town with few buildings and merchant stands along the coast. The four of us made our way towards the boats in order to hitch a ride towards to Galuna Island where the quest was sent from.

"It doesn't look like there are any ferries or cruisers to take us to the island; I'm guessing we're going to have to ask for a ride from one of the fisherman boats," I said as I observed the port.

"A boat?! No way, that's impossible!" Natsu retorted. "We're swimming there!"

"That's even more impossible," replied Lucy.

"What's the problem with taking a boat?" I asked.

"Hmph," Natsu grunted and looked away as he crossed his arms.

"Natsu's really bad with transportation, he gets motion sickness!" snickered Happy.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad, after all the ride would only be a couple hours," I said.

We asked numerous owners of boats, and even offered quite a hefty sum for the expenses, but still to no avail. Some fishermen we asked even looked like they were genuine pirates, yet still everyone seemed to be afraid of even getting near Galuna Island. The demon island must really live up to its name if it could strike fear into the toughest of fishermen.

"I don't know what you guys think to find there, but no sailor wants to go near it," said one of the owners of a boat as we asked for a ride. "Even pirates avoid that place."

Natsu once again offered the idea of swimming to the island, but it was said that monstrous sharks roam the waters between here and that island. The four of us decided to take a break and decide on our course of action from here. Lucy and Natsu sat on the ledge connecting to the waters as I and Happy stood and flew in front of them respectively. We weren't making any progress and it was only a matter of time before the Fairy Tail guild caught on to what we were doing.

"Sigh… What to do?" asked Lucy in a depressing voice.

"Like I said, we're swimming," said Natsu.

Footsteps heading in our direction caught my attention. _I see… that was fast._ Fairy Tail once again confirms that they were lightning fast with information.

"Found ya!" said Gray as he placed his arms around Lucy and Natsu. The two of them yelped and jolted up in surprise

"Gray!" the two of them shouted.

"Why are you here?!" yelled out Natsu.

"Master ordered me to bring you back," answered Gray as his face edged closer to Natsu in a mocking way. "But we didn't expect Shirou to be here with you idiots."

Gray looked at me intently as I stared blankly back at him.

"What can I say? The temptress of the quest lured me in," I said with a wry smile.

"Sigh… I see, hanging out with Natsu is turning you into an idiot as well," said Gray. "If the four of you come back now, you might be able to avoid expulsion."

"Expulsion!?" cried out Lucy.

"No way! I'm gonna do this S-class job!" angrily shouted Natsu.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know what will happen if Erza finds out about this?" said Gray as he shook in fright at the thought of an angry Erza.

It seems that was enough for one member of our team to switch sides.

"Gray… Help me… I was forced to come!" wept Happy as he hid behind Gray's back.

"Traitor!" screamed Lucy.

"I'll show Erza that I'm not afraid, there's no way I'm backing out now!" shouted Natsu as his fists ignited in flames.

"Master's orders! I'm bringing you back even if I have to use force!" shouted Gray as ice began forming in his fist in contrast to Natsu.

"What you wanna fight!?"

It looked like there was no other way to resolve this problem without getting into a fist-fight. Since words could not form a conclusion between these two, their fists will have to do the job.

"Magic?" it was the previous sailor from before this whole mess started. "You guys are mages? Are you by chance here to stop the curse?"

"We are."

"Yeah!"

"Y-yeah, kinda… sorta…"

"I won't let you guys!" shouted Gray after his contempt was suddenly ignored.

The sailor shook as we confirmed his question; was this man somehow related to the curse of the island?

"Here, hop in," he sternly said as he began preparing his boat for sailing.

I turned towards Natsu with a sinister smirk and likewise he returned the same expression. With both of us mentally agreeing with one another, there was only one thing left to do.

_Please forgive me Gray, but there's really no other_ choice. It was either sink or swim here regarding whether we could take on the S-class mission and Gray was the only reason keeping us from our destination.

"Take that!" the both of us shouted as my fist went straight into Gray's gut and as Natsu's foot hit the side of Gray's head with full force.

It goes without saying that Gray's body crumpled to the floor after an unexpected attack from the both of us. Lucy stood at the sidelines of our pre-emptive strike with her jaw wide open.

"Quick, drag him on!" I said to Natsu.

"Wait, why are we taking him with us?!" asked Lucy.

"If he goes back, then they'll send Erza and reinforcements to take us back!" answered Natsu.

After their action of sending Gray to prevent us from going, it was without a doubt that if they got a hold of us, they'd retrieve us without completing the mission. There was no way I'd sit around while I had the chance of helping out the lives of others.

"To the S-class Island!" blurted out Natsu. It wasn't the only thing that spewed from his mouth as the boat departed. "Urp."

The boat had only departed seconds ago, and Natsu was already leaning over the sides releasing all of his stomach content. Lucy sat next to me on the other side of the boat, as far away from Natsu as we could get while Gray was tied up in the centre of the boat.

An hour had passed on the boat streaming along the water, and finally Gray woke from his unpleasant slumber.

"I'm getting this creepy feeling of anxiety," Lucy said as she nudged up against me.

"You dragged me along and now you're talking like that?!" said Gray menacingly. At least Fairy Tail members were built tough; not a single bruise or mark was left on him.

Now that everyone in our team was up, there was something bothering me that I had to get out of my system.

"Sir, why did you allow us on your boat after hearing about our objectives?" I asked the sailor. "Do you have some sort of connection with Galuna Island?"

The man paused his paddling as he rested his oar within the boat and turned towards us.

"My name is Bobo; I once lived on that island…" he said. "But I escaped from that cursed place…"

"What sort of curse is it?" asked Happy.

Bobo's face darkened as he began retracing his memories of his time on the island.

"Misfortune will befall you, if you go to that island." said Bobo. "Can you guys really get rid of this curse?"

As Bobo finished his sentence, he brought out his arm hidden underneath his cape that was originally wrapped around his body. The arm was entirely black and looked as some sort of smooth organic plating. It had claws and sharp protrusions that stuck out along the arm. In other words, it looked like a demon's arm.

"That arm…" said Gray in a hushed voice.

"The curse… you can't mean…" said Lucy in disbelief.

"There it is," announced Bobo as he stared almost longingly at what we now could see. "Galuna Island."

From the distance afar, a dark visible shape was revealed in the direction we were headed. It had an ominous aura as it stood tall in the middle of nowhere. Not just that, as we approached closer to the island, the atmosphere suddenly felt denser and almost suffocating to a point. There was indeed something suspicious about this island.

As I was immersed in observing the environment of Galuna Island, a sudden gust of wind from behind regained my attention to the boat; we were down one person.

"Bobo's gone," I said out loud in astonishment.

"What!?" cried out Lucy in a panic.

"Where is he? Did he fall?" asked Gray worriedly.

Happy dove into the water only to rise up again to the surface.

"He's not down here!" Happy proclaimed.

"Urp!" Natsu once again hurled into the waters. "You guys… there's something loud coming…"

Besides the regurgitating sounds being emitted by Natsu, there was another horrible incoming sound. The four of us spun our heads towards the source and what we saw took us completely by surprise.

"Tidal wave!" we all cried out.

A tidal wave at least fifty metres in height had somehow snuck up in front of us, without us even realizing. With the impending destruction of the boat just seconds away, I rapidly untied Gray from the ropes which bound his arms and body.

"We're going to get sucked in!" shouted out Gray.

"Natsu, Gray and Happy; I'll meet you three on the island, best of luck!" I said to the three with a smile and a wave. "Lucy! Hang on tight!"

"Huh?" she confusedly said.

I securely embraced both my arms around her slim yet well-developed body and edged towards the side of the boat. I could feel her fidgeting around within my arms as she tried to make sense of the situation.

Right at the moment before the vicious water would engulf the boat and everything along with it; I jumped into the waters with Lucy still in my hold.

"Kyahh!"

The raging waters underneath flung the two of us around as I tried readjusting our position so it would help push us towards the shore. I held Lucy close to me, and slowly began making my way towards our destination.

[Scene Break]

COUGH COUGH~

"Lucy, are you alright?" I asked Lucy who seconds ago was on the verge of drowning. I supported her with one arm around her waist as she limped along the sands on the shore we had arrived on.

"Y-yeah… thanks to you…" she replied. "I might need a second to catch my breath though."

"Of course, we have to wait for Natsu, Happy and Gray anyway. Let's sit down here."

We both sat down back to back onto the dry and heated sands of Galuna Island as we recuperated from what just happened. The warmth of her body seeped through both of our soaking clothes while our backs connected to one another for support. There was an uncanny feeling of pressure that I still felt from the surrounding air on this island, but at this moment sitting next to Lucy, it no longer mattered.

"Once again I'm being saved by you," sighed Lucy after she got her strength back.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," I said jokingly. "Perhaps you should become stronger if you want to avoid it."

"Hmph! I'm plenty strong enough," she said as she flexed her bicep in one arm. "You wanted to see my magic right? I'll show you what I'm capable of!"

Now this was getting exciting; Lucy trudged over into the waters until she was knee-deep. It was the moment I was waiting for; after dealing with an angry Lucy for a couple days, I would finally get to experience her magic at first-hand.

"Pay close attention, Shirou! My mightiest Celestial Spirit!" shouted out Lucy in confidence. "Open! Door to the water bearer!"

As Lucy chanted what seemed to be a summoning spell, she grabbed one of the golden keys hanging from her sash hanging from her side. With the golden key, she plunged it right into the surface of the water.

"Aquarius!"

Suddenly a beauty you would expect to see in a beauty contest sprung from the water. She had long blue hair as well as cold blue eyes. She wore a revealing bikini-top for her ample breasts, but what was most interesting was her long-scaly fish-tail. Lucy had summoned a mermaid. There was no doubt that this figure before me was extremely powerful; it was amazing that Lucy could have command over her.

_Wasn't this the same sort of magic used by the Duke of Evaroo to summon me into this world?_ _I see, so Lucy was capable of summoning Celestial Spirits._ I had heard that there are only twelve Golden Zodiac Keys in Earth Land, yet Lucy was in possession of four of them from what I could tell from the keys hanging from her sides. There was more to Lucy than I thought.

"Aquarius, use your strongest ability in the opposite direction!"

"Tch," said the mermaid.

_Did I hear that correctly?_

"Please, listen to me this time!" pleaded Lucy.

"It pisses me off enough to see you with a man, but to use me for entertainment purposes to seduce your boyfr-," she was about to finish her sentence, but was cut off.

"AHHH! Shut up! You're wrong!" shouted Lucy in a shrill. "Just do it!"

Veins popped up on the side of the mermaid's forehead as she gave Lucy a fierce scowl. Lucy started backing away from the waters, as if expecting something to happen.

"Alright! Then I'll show you two my strongest attack!" the mermaid suddenly drew up a reflective azure urn she had been carrying.

The urn seemed to look like the centre of a whirlpool as vast volumes of water was sucked in. I had a bad feeling about this; Lucy was no longer walking backwards slowly, but instead breaking out into a full sprint.

"Here's what you wanted!" screamed out the mermaid as she did a complete three-sixty degree turn and hurled all the water gathered in the urn towards me and Lucy.

"You got to be kidding me…" I muttered.

And just like before, both Lucy and I were thrown around like rag dolls within the vortex of water.

"Serves you right," I heard the mermaid say in disdain. At least now I knew for sure, Lucy had the potential to be powerful.

[Scene Break]

After the waters returned to normal and any trace of the fearsome mermaid disappeared from this world, once again I stood bathing underneath the heat of the sun as I tried drying off. Lucy though, was a different story.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeatedly said while bowing her head each time she said it.

"It doesn't bother me one bit, and if anything it seemed to have worked in our favor," I said as I looked behind Lucy.

The rest of our team had washed ashore due to Aquarius' attack which had drawn in an unbelievable amount of water.

"But still! I didn't think she'd go as far as attacking you too… Usually she only attacks me."

I gave a peculiar smile when I heard the last part from Lucy; I guess Celestial Spirits were quite hard to tame. Lucy still appeared quite displeased by the results of her previous actions; the expression didn't fit her at all.

"Hmm, then how about when we get back to Magnolia, you'll have to make me dinner too, besides the dessert," I told her.

"Make you dinner?" she repeated my words. "Yeah! I'll do that!"

The bright smile I was used to seeing on Lucy reappeared from the deal we made with each other. The both of us relaxed and sat down in the position we were in before as we waited for Natsu, Gray and Happy to awake from their probably action-filled dreams. We both sat, staring up into the clouds of the sky.

"Shirou, I heard from Levy that you're not from Fiore?"

"Yes, that's true."

"No wonder you seem so out of place here!" she giggled. "Say… Why did you come to Fiore and join Fairy Tail in the first place?"

It wasn't that I was the one who decided to come here in the first place, but even so… this new world was slowly growing on me. From my previous actions in the past that Lucy's been exposed to, there was no doubt that she knew I had a deeper reason.

"You could say that my old life ended in the place I used to live in; I was lost in my goal and eventually started to lose vision on why I had it in the first place. I gave up everything for this hazy goal which was once concrete, and one day I was completely overwhelmed by it," I said while looking up into the sky as if searching for that place I was once in. "I came to Fiore in order to find the true meaning of my goal once again."

"Your goal… Is it to be an 'Ally of Justice'?"

"Yes. And your words back when we met for the second time… It brought me back to my senses," I said truthfully.

"My words?" she said in bemusement.

"To do whatever is in your power to make sure everyone is happy, so no one dies," I answered her. "I had originally begun to lose sight of my goal as my impression of it became more and more distorted. That's when I met you and Fairy Tail; I believe that my answer lies there."

"Shirou…" Lucy said softly. "I'll do everything I can to help you find your answer! If you ever want to talk about your past, you can count on me!"

I couldn't see her face with my back to hers, but I could tell from the vigor and emotions of her caressing voice; she meant every last word. I still hid practically every detail of my past from her, but I could sense it; one day I would tell her and the rest of Fairy Tail everything.

"Thank you, Lucy," I said as I leaned back more against her body. "What about you Lucy? For what reason did you join Fairy Tail?"

A slight silence was evoked between the two of us when I asked her that question.

"I-I'm running away from something…"

"Running away?"

"My previous home… I couldn't stand being cooped up in there any longer, so I had no other choice but to run away…" quietly said Lucy. "No… it wasn't that I had no other choice, but I didn't have the courage to face my problems."

I nodded my head understandingly.

"That's when I found Fairy Tail; it was warm and loving. Something that I never thought I would ever feel again," she told me. "That's why Fairy Tail is my new home…"

"I see… I feel the same way," I said in a gentle voice. "Please don't ever hesitate to rely on me either."

"Mmm!"

Time slowly passed as the two of us waited; it was a peaceful moment that I didn't mind stalling, but eventually it came to an end. Almost simultaneously, our three sleeping princes woke from their sleep.

"Urghh…" moaned Natsu as he sat up and observed his surroundings. "Wow! Are we there?! Are we on Galuna Island?!"

"Yeah I guess that 'tidal wave' washed us ashore," Lucy answered with a special emphasis on 'tidal wave'.

"Alright! It's time to explore! Explore!"

"Aye sir!" exclaimed the now fully awake Happy.

"There's a village on this island, let's head there first," I suggested.

The four of us started walking away from the site.

"Wait," said Gray. "I'm coming with you guys."

Even though Gray tried being the level-headed one in the group; it was quite obvious he could be as impulsive as Natsu anyday.

"It'd irritate me to no end if Natsu got to the second floor first, not to mention Shirou who just joined," said Gray as he tried explaining his reason. "And if you guys get expelled, then that'd be boring!"

And with that, the creation of our team had been concluded.

"Let's go!"

"Aye!"

[Scene Break]

The village was encircled by giant wooden poles that completely blocked out anything from entering within its vicinity. After being named the Demon Island, I guess it would make sense that the villagers would put a lot of stress on defenses.

After almost an hour of exploring, we finally arrived in front of the daunting wooden gates of the village.

"Excuse us! Could you please open the gate?" shouted out Lucy.

"This sucks," said Natsu as he started cracking his knuckles. "Let's just break it down."

"Be reasonable," I told him with a friendly and light karate chop to the head.

Scrambling on top of the gate could be heard as two unknown sentry guards stood above to address us.

"Who's there?"

"We're from the mage guild, Fairy Tail! Erm… we saw your request!" Lucy replied.

"Fairy Tail? We know nothing about you guys accepting our request," questioned the guards.

"Well… um…"

"I think there was some confusion. If we can't get in we'll leave though," said Gray as he baited them.

"I'm not leaving!" Natsu of course didn't get the gist of it. A swift elbow to the side by Gray was enough to temporarily silence Natsu.

"Show me your symbols," said the guard finally.

We revealed our symbols, my left hand, Lucy's right hand, Gray's upper chest, Natsu's right shoulder and Happy's back.

"They look real," whispered one of the guards to his companion.

"Hmm…" said one of the guards. "Strip the girl!"

Surprisingly, the sound of clothes being tossed aside could be heard.

"They meant Lucy, not you Gray!" I shouted out in shock. "And besides, why would we do that!?"

"Uuohh!" shouted Gray as he noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes.

"Sorry, I got carried away," said the guard. Incredible, how these two became guards, I would never know. "Get in… I'll inform the mayor."

With that amusing encounter finally over with, the massive gates began rising.

It took a few minutes before the mayor arrived, but he didn't arrive alone. Everyone within the village had gathered together to meet us; it seems they were all hopeful that we could break the curse inflicted on this island and their people. They came to us fully robed; concealing their appearances.

When introductions were over, the mayor ordered everyone to take off their robes to display their abnormalities to us caused by the curse. Each one of them had some sort of demonic limb, much like the sailor Bobo did. It seems not even animals were spared from morphing into different creatures as they took on demonic forms as well.

It seems this island was particularly famous for its exposure to moonlight; throughout the days of the year, the island would accumulate so much moonlight that it'd shine like the moon itself.

A few years ago, something happened and the moon and the light it radiated suddenly changed into a purple color. Perhaps this was a result of the moon somehow reflected concentrated ultraviolet radiation in this area resulting in mutations of the villager's molecular DNA… highly unlikely. I quickly shook off the thought and a new idea developed in my mind. _The pressure I was feeling since arriving on the island… _I glared up into the sky which was beginning to lose its sunlight and be replaced by the malevolent moonlight.

The moon was a deep purple color, and the night sky appeared mistier than usual; almost like water.

"This is the curse of the moon's magical power," said the mayor ominously.

Suddenly the bodies of the villagers began transforming into something different entirely. They grew scales, horns, claws, wings; they were becoming demons. The members of Fairy Tail were overcome by a huge shock.

"Sorry if we scared you… When the purple moon is out… our bodies change into these ugly demons," explained the mayor who now took on a demonic humanoid form. "If this isn't a curse, then what is it?"

The cries and sobs of the villagers could be heard. Young boys and girls wept as they were comforted by their crying mothers and the men could barely withhold their tears from streaming out. It was a pitiful sight to behold.

"Once it becomes morning, we all revert back to our original forms… but recently… some people don't change back and completely lose their souls."

"It can't be…" whispered Lucy in fear.

"We decided to kill anyone who'd lose their soul and turn into a real demon."

"Even if there's a chance they'd return back to normal!?" screamed out Natsu.

"There was no other way… if we let them live, others may have been killed by them. We tried locking them up and imprisoning them, but their strength was too much to contain and they would escape."

The mayor held out a small portrait of an individual by pinching the photo between his fingertips to show to the rest of us. The individual was very familiar to the rest of us.

"That's why… I had to kill my own son as well. My son, whose soul became evil…"

"What… but he... yesterday," faltered Lucy.

"Shhh!" said Grey silencing Lucy.

"We shouldn't let the mayor know of all people," I whispered to Lucy and the rest of the team.

"I acknowledge you as famous mages. Please save our island…" the mayor bowed his head. "If this keeps going on… everyone will lose their souls and turn into demons!"

"I won't let that happen!" screamed Natsu. His determination and confidence was something I had shared as well.

"There is only one way to stop the curse…" the mayor pointed his finger to the source of his anger. "Please destroy the moon!"

[Scene Break]

"Close the blinds already, Happy!" shouted Lucy.

It seems everyone was fearful of the supposed curse of the moon. If there was anything harmful or magical about the moonlight, I'm certain I would've felt it invading my body. There was no such thing.

"No way could we destroy a moon," Gray said out loud.

We were all currently inside one of the villages empty houses that they provided for us to rest for the night. It was difficult to explore and investigate throughout the night, so we decided to leave it for tomorrow morning.

"Yeah…" said Lucy.

"I have no idea how many punches it would take to destroy it!" said Natsu in the heat of the moment.

"You're actually gonna try!?" asked Gray in surprise. "It's impossible to destroy the moon."

"I agree… I think no mage can do such a thing," continued Lucy.

I was lying down on one of the futons at the side the villagers had kindly laid out for us; I pondered about the reason for the menacing moon. Even during the day when the moon was absent, I still felt the strange smothering feeling of the atmosphere that this island had which was lacking anywhere else. Only here were the moon and the rays that shone down purple. There was a reason for this, and it was no curse.

"We can do it," I said out bluntly. "We can destroy the purple moon of this island."

"What!?" shouted out Gray. "How do you expect we do that? Even if you're that great of a mage, destroying the moon is out of this world, literally!"

"Don't worry, I have an idea of what's really going on here, but first we need to investigate further," I proclaimed. "But even if we do destroy the 'purple moon', we'll still have to stop whatever caused it to be this way in the first place."

"Yeah! We're gonna destroy the moon!" shouted Natsu. "I'm getting fired up!"

"Whatever the case… We'll have to think about it tomorrow," said Gray with a yawn. He then crawled into one of the futons in the middle.

"Fine! Tomorrow we'll explore the island! Let's just sleep tonight then!" said Natsu as he dove into the futon on the opposite side where I was.

"Aye sir!" agreed Happy as he passed out onto the cold floors.

"Yeah, I'm sleepy too…" said Lucy who could barely remain awake as she rubbed her eyes. "Good night, everyone."

The sleeping arrangement went in order; me, Lucy, Gray followed by Natsu and Happy. I had drawn the winning lotto and got a futon away from Gray; at this point of time, I couldn't tell if he was spot-naked or not. Lucy had rested closer to me than she had to Gray, could anyone really blame her?

Even with the excessively loud snoring from Natsu and Gray, after a few minutes I could feel the cells in my brain slowly synchronizing as the alpha waves began making way for the slower waves. That was until… I was driven fully awake again.

Lucy had rolled over from her futon and was now basically half sharing the same one I was occupying. The cells in my brain were no longer resting and were now working at full force; all this was because Lucy suddenly decided to use my arm as a hug pillow. My arm had becoming entirely enveloped within her breasts as she tightly hung on to my arm; there was no escaping from her death grip. The temperature on the island was hot enough as it was, and now I was burning up.

It was a good thing she was wearing a short sleeve black shirt rather than her usual daring outfits, or else who knows how long it would be before my heart burst out of my chest. It was already closing in on its limits as I peered over at Lucy's sleeping face.

I noticed few stands of her elegant hair covering her face and took my open hand to brush it off as I shifted my body slightly to the side. Even with three males in the room, Lucy had fallen asleep; she must've really trusted us.

The room was dyed in a dim violet light which seeped through the closed blinds, and Lucy appeared to shine pleasingly underneath. Despite the wickedness attributed to this ray of light; Lucy looked angelic.

The softness of her body, the warmth of her arms, the longing of her embrace; everything about her fascinated me. To be honest, I could find myself staring at her perpetually. Even in her sleep, Lucy smiled brightly as she clung on to my arm; quite frankly I enjoyed it.

If there was anything I learned this night, it was that I wanted to protect this smile of Lucy. As if it were contagious, I eventually found myself smiling compassionately toward her charming face as I closed my eyes.

I knew it was quite pointless to do so though; there was no way I was getting any sleep tonight.

**Chapter 4 End**

Author Notes:

So here we go; the beginning of the demon island arc. I hadn't originally planned on writing the beginning I have now, but after reading one of the reviews I thought it was something too good to give up.

Most of this chapter has been pretty faithful to the manga, which might put some of you off, but this is just the setup! Expect the plot to branch into something different now that Shirou's involved.

Changes/Fixes

About the technology thing, I changed it so it was only Rin having problems not Shirou; you guys got me lol.

Reviewer Comments:

You want more misunderstandings? Done!

Yes, I have a pairing in mind!

The spacing in my writing; after re-reading my first couple chapters I totally agree with you that it's horrendous. You can probably notice a trend as the chapters progress that I start spacing more as well hahah. As much as I enjoy harems as the next guy; I'm with you that it gets overplayed. Sometimes some good old fashion one on one romance is better right?

I'm following both the manga and anime (except fillers) so no worries there. After Shirou becomes more assimilated into Earth Land, I'd probably have no reason to show Shirou as dense; he's totally a guy that will act when he needs to.  
I was going for that complete hero-mode mentality (maybe a bit too much like you said), but what's a story without character development.

Yeah, I like the idea of writing more side-missions. It's a lot better way of developing character relationships rather than, seeing little snippets of them here and there.

My planned UBW scenario is actually a far ways off from where I'm at now sadly.

Hahah! Shirou and Old Spice, he could totally play a part in the commercials.  
"What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It's an oyster with two tickets to the thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now swords!"  
Best way to win a woman's heart.

Once again, thank you all for reading!

If you see any mistakes, wrong information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	7. Hero's Tail: Save the Demon Island 2

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 6**

[STORY START]

Near the end of the night, even against all odds, I was able to rest soundlessly with the numbness that graced my arm. There was a brief lapse of time where I could not recall having any thoughts, which must've been when my brain switched into sleep-mode. The last portion of my memories show me a darkened night with a dim violet light coursing into our snug little room, and now the genial gleams emitted by the sun could be felt prickling my tired face.

I couldn't have slept for more than a couple hours by how exhausted I felt after awakening from the internal alarm in my head; maybe a bit more rest could do me some good as I continued snoozing in the exact same position.

The most difficult part of one's day was getting started, and right now I was having a rough time trying to overcome it.

"Well, well, look what we have here," I could hear Gray's voice looming over the top of me.

"Heheh, Lucy's quite bold!" exclaimed Happy with his bright energetic voice.

Despite losing what seemed to be every last sense of feeling in my left arm, I could feel the shifting of weight coming from the source of my numbness. Slowly, I slightly forced open my eyes against the weight of weariness and observed the surroundings.

The sleeping beauty had finally woken from her entrancing sleep as she sat up tiredly with my arm still pushed up against her sizeable bosom. With one hand, she wiped away the morning tears in her eyes and gave a ferocious yawn much like a lion.

"Pffft," the three other Fairy Tail members could barely contain their laughter at the scene before them.

"I knew you really assertive at times, but to think you'd take advantage of Shirou at night!" laughed out Natsu.

"Huh?" was all Lucy could say as the gears in her mind gradually began moving.

The picturesque blonde altered her gaze towards the middle of her chest to which she noticed the placement of my arm. Then she followed the arm to its owner as she stared blankly at my face. Lucy was currently in the same futon I was in after she had rolled over in the middle of the night.

"Morning, Lucy," I said to her while flashing the biggest grin I could afford in my current state. "No worries, I didn't mi…!"

My arm was suddenly released from its confines and dropped loosely to the ground. Instantly, without any time to think about what was happening, a solid force went straight into my gut.

"Noooooo!" screamed out Lucy as she stomped the hell out of my abdomen.

"Guoo!" if there was a sure-fire way of waking someone up, this had to be it.

There was a strange assembly of reactions from everyone in the room. Natsu, Gray and Happy roared out in laughter as they clutched their stomachs almost in pain, Lucy was crying from embarrassment and I was up and coughing from the unexpected rush of adrenaline pumping through my body.

It was just another morning with Fairy Tail.

[Scene Break]

"'Hey guys, can you tone it down a little? We never know what's surrounding us'… she says," Lucy was currently sitting in another one of her Celestial Spirits that looked like an antique grandfather clock. The clock named Horologium was being used as a travelling device while Lucy remained safely tucked away inside as the clock talked for Lucy in a monotone voice.

After the events of this morning, Lucy had apologized as if her life was on the line. She kneeled down and bowed her head until it touched the floor as she begged for forgiveness. Even if her surprise attack did quite a bit of damage, there was no way I could be angry at the person who prostrated herself in front of me now; it was quite cute. I laughed and waved it off to the surprise of the other members whom were expecting a punishment of sort. Happy had even offered to restrict Lucy from any fish for a month; as much as Lucy deserved it, I had declined Happy's ideal of a harsh punishment.

We were currently out of the protection of the village and were now off to investigate the island for anything warranting our suspicion. The island was thick in vegetation which made travelling a little extensive as we pushed through waves of bushes and trees.

"Why don't you walk on your own?" asked Natsu.

"Are you sure you're using that Celestial Spirit in the right way?" questioned Gray.

"'B-but our opponent this time is a 'curse'. Something unsubstantial is far beyond creepy!'… she says," said Horologium.

"S-class quest! I'm fired up!"

"I'll just freeze the curse. No sweat!"

Either they were really confident in their abilities, or the two of them don't take this quest seriously. I let out an exasperated sigh as I continue following them from behind. If the mission we accepted was that easy, there'd be no way it'd be classified in S-class.

"'You two are really dumb...' she says" said Horologium copying Lucy.

As we proceeded through the island, suddenly a strange beating noise could be heard from afar. It sounded much like the rotating blades of a helicopter and it was approaching us.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" I asked out loud.

"Hrmm?" grumbled Gray.

"What is it?" asked Natsu.

The bizarre beating noises stopped and instead were replaced by the sound of a large object dropping from the skies. I peered up through a small opening in the blankets of leaves that covered most of our aerial vision. What I saw wasn't pleasing at the least…

"Watch out!" I shouted.

A house sized rat crashed through the trees and landed promptly on the now flattened ground in front of us. It was monstrous; not because it was a giant rat, but because it wore some sort of white hairband and an outstretched and silky tutu. The thing before us would've looked fearsome if it was merely just a giant rat, but now with its attire it was an abomination of abominations.

"A rat!" shouted Natsu in surprise.

"It's humungous!" shouted Gray.

"'Guys, take it down already!'… She says," said Horologium repeating Lucy. Happy had also taken refuge within the clock. "'Aye'… he says."

The giant rat opened its mouth and began inhaling a tremendous amount of air; we had to station our legs to the ground in order not to be sucked in. It held the air within its lungs and mouth as it prepared for its first attack.

"Bring it on!" cried out Gray. He brought both his hands behind his back in accordance to his preparation of his magic. "I'll use my Ice Make: Shield and completely block…"

"Puhaaa!" shouted the rat as it expelled the entirety of the air in its lungs; immediately I dove towards the side of the rat in order to not get caught by the stream of pungent air.

As expected by a rat, the attack was basically a stink bomb within its breath. It was strong enough to have Natsu lying flat on his face due to his keen sense of smell and the Celestial Spirit reeling back to its own world. The rat bellowed out loud in laughter as it looked prideful over what it had just done.

"It stinks! What is this smell!?" coughed Gray. "Natsu! Pull yourself together!"

After gloating over its last attack, the rat motioned once again to finish off us Fairy Tail members. There was one flaw in its plan; it seemed to have completely forgotten that I was at its side.

I sprung up high into the air using my reinforced legs and began imaging the perfect weapon for this beast.

_Trace on_. I projected a simple war hammer that was used during the late medieval times. The handle was almost body-length and its head was easily the length of one of my arms, but I had easily brought it up and behind my back as I prepared to strike.

Once I was mid-air and to the side of the rat's head, I twisted my upper body in the direction of my aim and swung hard using the full range of my arm.

"Hey!" I shouted out before I had actually hit.

The beast turned its head towards my voice in surprise; only to be met by the finely crafted hardened-steel surface of the hammer. The heavy mass of the hammer pushed through the drawn-out nose of the rat and crushed both bone and teeth with a sickening crack.

The hammer progressed through the face of the rat until the full extent of my range was completed. The force of the collision had enough power to knock the rat clear into the air as it flew backwards into the row of trees behind its massive body.

"Nice work, Shirou!" said Natsu happily.

"Ah!" said Lucy. "Look! There's a building over there!"

Now that the collection of trees that was once blocking our vision had been trampled, a stone-made building could be seen in the distance.

"Alright, let's go," I said casually as I walked past the fallen beast.

The rest followed suit, but not before Natsu and Gray could give the rat a few kicks and punches.

"That's what you get for messing with Fairy Tail!" the both of them shouted in excitement. Even though the rat was clearly not getting up anymore; I guess Natsu and Gray couldn't stand the sight of the atrocity either.

_Sigh_… Lucy had groaned as well as both us and Happy carried on ahead while leaving the two to their fun.

[Scene Break]

The building we had entered was already in shambles and ruins; it was one spacious chamber devoid of any sort of item. Each of us searched every nook and corner in hopes of at least finding any sort of clue. Suspicious markings of crescent shaped moons and stars were the only thing we could find that would catch our attention, but still this wasn't anything to work with.

"Dammit, you'd expect a shabby looking place like this to at least have some treasures," Natsu said in frustration. "Even the floors look like they could cave in at any second!"

Natsu repeatedly stomped his foot against the stone pavement as he could no longer contain his running low patience. Surprisingly enough, the floors began to crack and groan intensely.

"Natsu, I suggest you stop that immediate-"

With one final kick, the ground underneath Natsu split right across the floor of the building and caved in where we were currently positioned.

"You idiot, Natsu!" cried out Lucy.

I could only sigh in futility as the ground beneath me vanished below. I reinforced my body and braced myself for the impact we were all about to experience.

Seconds later, the meat and bones of our bodies cushioned the fall against what once was the solid concrete pavement; we were in an entirely new location.

I brushed off the dust that found a new resting spot on my cloak and extended my hand to Lucy to help her up.

"Everything's act before you think, isn't it Natsu?" I asked as I gingerly brought Lucy to her feet.

"That's completely redundant to ask," answered Gray as he growled at Natsu. "This bastard's got a rock for a brain."

"Hey now, save that for later," said Lucy as she too began cleaning herself off. "First of all, where the heck are we?"

"It looks like there was an underground passageway hidden underneath that building earlier," I observed the surroundings. "I guess Natsu's impulsiveness has its benefits."

"Yahoo! A secret cavern!" shouted Natsu who was anything but remorseful about his actions. "Since we're here, we might as well explore!"

Since there was no way of exiting through whence we came from, there was no other choice as we began making our way through the tunnels of the musty looking cave. Besides the obvious smell and belonging to the sedimentary rocks that decorated the walls of the passageway, there was bitter feeling that tickled my senses. The senses that it evoked from me were quite similar to what I felt when facing off against the demon Lullaby; contrary, this felt exponentially weaker.

"Natsu, stop going so far ahead!" shouted Gray.

Natsu pranced along far ahead of us as his curiosity in the unknown was getting the better of him; that was until he abruptly froze in place. I constantly had a flow of prana into my ears for reinforcement; I had to be cautious that no one could detect our presence. I affirmed there were no incoming threats and carried along.

"Oh!"

The four of us behind him strolled over to where he stood in interest.

"Natsu?" I called out.

"What's up?" asked Gray.

"Wh-Wha… is that?" stuttered Natsu as he stared on in front of him.

Once the four of us caught up to Natsu's tracks, we stared bewildered at the sight before us. What I had been sensing before, this was definitely the source of it. If the rat we had disposed of previously could be compared to an average civilian house, then the demon that stood before us was a mansion of an aristocrat.

"A humongous frozen monster!" cried out Natsu in astonishment as he readied his fist in case of a fight.

The reason I had not perceived the existence of the gigantic demon before us earlier was because it was presently encapsulated within a mountain of ice. Unlike the conventional creation of ice formed from the dissipation of energy from water, the substance before us was not created by natural means. It was most likely created to be impenetrable and fortified; formed by magic used in order to seal overwhelming creatures.

The thing inside the ice was a humanoid demonic creature with a massive torso and matching destructive-looking arms. It had two intimidating horns, mane-like hair flowing down to its neck and two rows of sinister sharp canine teeth adorning its devilish face.

The presence of this demon in front of us surely couldn't be a coincidence; there had to be some sort of connection between its existence and the supposed 'curse' of the island. Studiously, I scanned the area for anything that could help in the investigation. An inconspicuous hole in the roof of the cave right above the demon could be made out; it appeared to stretch all the way to the outside.

The others were downright speechless as they gaped in fear at the towering figure in front of them. If sound effects could be attributed to this moment, it'd be the sound of a racing heart on the verge of shattering, because dispelling the silence the next instant was a heart-piercing shout.

"DELIORA!?"

In an outburst of pure passionate rage and confusion, Gray had lashed out at what stood before us. We all turned to look at him worriedly.

"How can Deliora be here!?"

Over the breathless panting of Gray, the sounds of approaching footsteps could be heard by my reinforced hearing; I dutifully walked up to Gray.

"Calm yourself Gray," I grabbed his convulsing shoulders and forced him to look at me. "Someone's coming, we have to conceal ourselves."

"Those bastards! They're planning something with Deliora, I know it! I'll stop those bastards right here and now," Gray shouted uncontrollably.

"Gray! I'm don't know what your relation is to this 'Deliora', but quiet your anger and think for a second!"

"You coward… you plan on letting them get away with this? You don't know the terror of Deliora!"

"You idiot! We'll stop them, there's no doubt about that. But we need to discover their purposes and a way of ridding the curse on this island! If they find us now that'll jeopardize our entire mission, unless you plan on risking your teammate's lives for your spur of the moment anger!"

We needed a plan before we acted; I had learned from my first mission the other day, it was impossible to rely on brute force alone. At the mistake of my own ignorance, I had almost failed the mission and lost my life. I wouldn't risk the lives of others a second time without having some idea of what was going on.

"Gray… Let's just hide for the time being…" called out Lucy.

"Dammit…" Gray groaned miserably as he clenched his fists strong enough to draw blood. Even though I haven't known Gray for long, it was unsightly to see him in this darkness.

Gray reluctantly complied as the five of us hid behind the cover of an array of large boulders and concealed our presence. We muzzled our breaths and stealthily awaited the ones most likely responsible for this entire mess.

Soon enough the suspects made their entrance through the tunnel we had just arrived from. One was a lanky and tall male with a face that resembled some sort of hybrid between human and canine, while the other was a shorter male with long spiked hair and outrageously bushy eyebrows.

"They're not in here either. Shit, I can't believe we have intruders when the day of retribution is so nigh; we can't let ourselves fail after three long years! Use your puppy powers to sniff them out Toby!" said the bushy eyebrows.

"These are just decorations! I don't have senses akin to a dog!" replied the man named Toby.

"I was just teasing, but it makes no difference. We have to make sure the Moon Drip continues shining down on Deliora without any interruptions."

_Moon Drip? This was definitely of interest. _A third individual had entered the eerie cavern as the two bickered with each other. It was a gothic-looking female with pink hair and a curvaceous body to go along with her skin-tight clothing. It seems as of late, there hasn't been many females who haven't been blessed by Mother Nature. The female walked over to the two as she seemed to sulk.

"I have sad news Yuuka and Toby… We have concluded that Angelica is suffering from a major concussion. Her entire jaw was caved in and few shards of bones punctured parts of her brain. It is unlikely that she will wake anytime soon, and even if she does, she'll never be the same…" the female covered her face with her hands as she sobbed emotionally.

"It's just a mouse!" shouted out Toby.

"She's not just a mouse… Angelica was a noble warrior that soars through the darkness of the night… and love."

There had to be some loose screws in this girl's head to be able to see that grotesque animal in such a way; I peered over at my companions and saw that they shared the same expression. Perhaps one of the side effects of the 'curse' was deranged mentalities; it was perfectly reasonable. Still one thing bothered me, the man named Yuuka stated that they've been working on this for three years, yet they don't seem to have succumbed to the curse...

"There's no doubt that we have intruders… To be capable of harming Angelica, they still pose a threat no matter how little; we must find them fast!" exclaimed Yuuka.

"We must rid of them before our emperor hears of it… before the moon polishes the sky with its beauty… and love…"

"We'll have to kill them!" barked the dog.

"We're not certain if they've seen Deliora, but either way, we have to silence them," said Yuuka as he spun back to the exit.

The three of them took one last glance at the menacing demon, and went out in search of us. After verifying that the three were wholly out of range to notice us, I indicated to the others that it was clear.

[Scene Break]

"I don't see why we didn't just capture them and beat the answers out of them," Natsu said as he stretched his arms.

"Not yet, let's see how this goes," said Lucy.

"I agree, they said they had an 'emperor' who is the mastermind behind all of this. He should be the one we're targeting; I'd prefer there to be unnecessary casualties if possible," I blatantly said. Even if the unwritten code of the prohibition of taking another's life was etched into the members of Fairy Tail; we were talking about an S-class quest where any mistake could mean death. If the lives of others needed to be extinguished to protect my teammates, then so be it.

"Yeah… I'd like to avoid that as well… If everything goes right, then hopefully by stopping their leader, we'll find the answers to our problems," agreed Lucy aloofly. It seems the notion of killing was still as alien as always.

"Besides that... Gray, what is this 'Deliora'?" I said while indicating towards the demon locked in ice.

"Yeah, everything is getting confusing. Explain, Gray!" said Natsu frustrated.

"I wonder if it's edible…" contemplated Happy.

"Deliora should've been sealed off on an iceberg in a remote area of the northern continent… How did they find it, yet alone bring it all the way here!?" Gray gritted his teeth.

"Eh?" asked Lucy in shock. It seems Gray knew more than we bargained for.

"It's an immortal demon that breached the defenses of the Isbin area ten years ago… and that's when my magic instructor, Ur, used her life force to seal Deliora for eternity."

A sudden chilling draft emanated from behind me where Gray was standing.

"I don't know how it's related to this island's curse… but one thing is for certain. Whatever this emperor asshole's plans with Deliora are… there's no way I'd let them get away with disgracing Ur's name!"

This was not a misconception on my part; centered on Gray was the dousing of any form of heat within the surrounding area. The room's temperature was dropping drastically to the point of it being more than discomforting.

"We understand, Gray…" I said unaffected by the cold. Beside me, Lucy was shivering excessively; though with this sudden wintry cold, she might as well have been wearing nothing considering the clothing she was in at the moment.

The waning temperature came to a stop as Gray tried regaining his calm composure.

"Then there's only one thing to do, I'll just have to finish it off before they can do anything with it!" Natsu said as he swung his arm in circles to ready it.

The dissipating coldness was only replaced by a sudden heated fury. Dashing from his position, Gray leapt at Natsu while throwing a right hook at his face.

"Stay away from it Flame mage! If the ice melts and Deliora is released then there'll be nothing to save us!"

The impact threw Natsu off his feet and onto his back.

"Is it really something that would melt that easily!?" shouted Natsu as he got back up.

"No…"

"Dammit, I was hit for no reason. You're way too reckless."

"Look who's talking" said Happy.

"This ice magic your teacher used to seal Deliora; it's made to be indestructible isn't it," I asked.

Gray nodded his head and looked towards the ice.

"The magic spell Ur casted is called 'Iced Shell', it's a seal made of ice that will never melt regardless of the amount of heat used on it… So why would they bring it out here!?"

There were no answers for Gray's rhetorical question, but of course, Natsu never failed to deliver.

"The answer is easy; we just have to go after the people that just left."

"No, we wait here," replied Gray solemnly. "We wait until the moon is up."

[Scene Break]

Natsu had thrown a tantrum after hearing Gray's idea about waiting until nightfall when the moon presents itself, but now he was fast asleep as time went on by slowly.

The three from before had mentioned the moon a few number of times, somehow it was plausible that everything we've witnessed so far since arriving was not a strange coincidence. Our plan was to investigate the connections between the curse, moon and Deliora; by waiting until night, we would have front row seats to catching the entire event.

I inspected the area; checking for any sorts of hidden entrances of exits to make sure we were safe. After confirming there were none, I returned to the sleeping Natsu, the chatting Happy and Lucy, and Gray who sat on a rock nearby Deliora as he was lost in thought.

There was one thing worrying me besides the mission; Gray's hatred for Deliora was beyond anger, it felt like it was closing in on obsession and I was slightly intrigued. I realized it was unnecessary for me to understand why, but I couldn't leave Gray to self-destruct from his locked up emotions. Coming from me who rarely opened to anyone might've sounded hypocritical, but I sincerely wanted to relinquish his painful memories by sharing it with us Fairy Tail members. If anything, they might become a hindrance if a battle takes place in the near-future, it was best to deal with this now.

"Gray," I said as I took a seat across from him. "This teacher of yours, Ur, she was really important to you wasn't she?"

The ice mage weakly laughed as he sought out the words to describe a valuable individual to him.

"Hah… 'Important' would be quite the understatement. Ur was not just a teacher to me; she was family that I truly loved…" Gray said reminiscently. His voice caught the attention of Lucy and Happy as they glanced over to the two of us; Gray looked tentatively and finally addressed everyone. "Shirou, Lucy, Happy… I'm not looking to be pitied, but… would you listen to this story of mine?"

Lucy and Happy trudged on over and took a seat on either side me which formed a little circle amongst the four of us. This was enough to confirm our intentions of hearing Gray out.

"I see… Thank you…"

Deliora was a demon created by the Black Mage Zeref much like Lullaby, except this demon was on a completely different power scale. It roamed the continents and destroyed whatever stood in its wake; killing thousands in the process. Cities were demolished and villages were replaced by pillars of fire from the demon's enormous magical powers. The drifting demon had eventually arrived in Gray's village in the north continent.

"My memories of the event and everything before it is extremely fragmented to the point where I don't know which are real memories or fake images that I formed. My village, my friends and even of my own parents, I can no longer put a name to any of these. When Deliora attacked, there was no point of struggling or running away; most of us had already resigned ourselves to the fate of death. I too felt this way, but miraculously, after Deliora had left, I was the sole survivor of my village."

No one made a sound as we intently listened to Gray's past.

"I was injured as I lay underneath the ruined crumples of the buildings that once stood tall in the village. I can remember the tears that flowed down my face mixing with my blood as I cursed and wept over how weak I was. I had seen those who I lived with my entire life being blown away and had heard the cries and screams of everyone dying around, yet all I could do was cower away and despise my inadequacy. I believed I was dead… I had nothing left, my dreams and aspirations in life were crushed. My body was near-death and there was no way my mind could've escaped that either. I was saved by Ur and her student who happened to pass by. I was born anew, with only one goal in mind… Revenge."

It felt extraordinary listening to Gray's retelling of his past. The resemblance to my own was uncanny.

"Ur had taken me in as her second student after saving me. She taught me the magic I know today, everything about the current me, I owe to her. In the short amount of time I spent with her, she had essentially become my parent. One day, news about Deliora's activity in the city of Burago was spread across the location we were in. With my newfound magic, I was confident that I would be able to take on Deliora and end my nightmares that haunt me. Without heeding Ur's words or warnings, I left in search of the demon."

Gray took in a deep breath as he neared the climax of his story.

"I was completely overwhelmed. The demon had once again left me lying against the ground in fear; even with my pent up frustration, my unrelenting revenge, I was still no match for it. And much like before, I was saved by Ur. She arrived at the nick of time and stopped Deliora from ending my miserable life, but even for a powerful mage like Ur, the demon was still too much. With no other options left, Ur had used the forbidden spell 'Iced Shell' which converts the user's life energy and body into an unbreakable ice."

Tears rolled down the distressed face of Gray as he recalled his memories of the last moment of his most important person. In front of me was an individual still trapped in his past; he had lost everything twice, yet he's still here, living with his nightmares. I was concerned about Gray's mental state; did he still have a sense of his own self-consciousness, or did it disappear a long time ago?

"She still lives on in this ice in front of us… I can still hear the last words she told me, 'I will seal your darkness',"

Just like how my father had granted me a new life, similarly, Gray had received the same light from Ur.

[Scene Break]

I stayed awake the entire duration as we waited for the purple moon's entrance into the skies. Despite the lack of sleep I've been getting the past few days; I found it impossible to sleep in a situation like this. Gray of course was awake and was once again pondering and sorting out his mind in solitude as the other members were fast asleep. Not a single person had come to inspect the chamber where the sealed Deliora was held as the five of us waited. No one moved and not a single sound could be heard besides Natsu's snore; it was an ominous peace.

And finally, the moon rose.

"What's the sound?" moaned Lucy as she slowly got up from her short nap.

"Night time!" cried out Natsu hopping up from his sleeping position.

The floors and walls rumbled and shook violently which broke the silence that enveloped us just seconds ago. The opening at above Deliora at the top of the cave roof was suddenly filled with an explosion of violet rays of light. It burst through the roof, drowning the giant boulder of ice in a flash of light; there was no doubt about it now, Deliora was somehow related to the curse and the suspect's intricate plans. With my reinforced sight, I inspected the ice for any changes. Underneath the blinding light, small trickles of water rolled down.

"Everyone, we're going to surface to track down the ones responsible!" I announced out as I rushed to the exit of the cavern.

"Let's go!" shouted Gray as he quickly trailed behind my steps.

"All right!" roared Natsu who was fully awake after his excursion in his dream-world.

We raced through the tunnels in the opposite direction which eventually began sloping uphill. The path was excessively long, which revealed just how far below Deliora had been hidden. The Fairy Tail members sprinted up despite the long trek as the words of Gray's past was still fresh in their minds.

The tunnels finally ended and we cautiously exited through its opening. It was the beginning of dusk and the surrounding area, which happened to be at the highest peak of a hill, was endowed with violet light. As we had expected, we weren't alone; in front of us were numerous people cloaked in robes with markings of the moon as they formed a circle around a pillar of light.

The light was most likely shining down towards the basement where Deliora was held. The cloaked individuals continued chanting passionately and welcomed the spine-chilling light.

"They're concentrating the moonlight onto Deliora," I said out loud. It was still indistinguishable what their motives were for doing this, but one thing was clear, they were planning on releasing Deliora from its seal. "It's melting the ice."

"That can't be… 'Iced Shell' isn't possible to just melt away!" Gray said almost appalled.

"I'm not sure how, but back then before we left, the moment the violet light struck the ice, I could see small traces of the ice melting away."

"Are you serious…? They don't know how gruesome Deliora is!"

"Whatever the curse is on this island, I'm fairly certain that the people before us are responsible. The incantation they're chanting at the moment; that must be the key to why the moon appears purple," I explained as I scoured the area for any potential enemies lying in wait. From my peripheral vision at my side, someone entered my line of sight.

"He must be the one we have to stop," I said, directing everyone's attention to the individual clad in a demonic looking helmet and adorned with a luxurious looking white mantle.

Following behind the mysterious individual were the three peculiar individuals from before. As I looked back towards my side, Natsu instinct for battle for already ignited.

"So that's the bastard, I'm going to-"

"Wait! Let's eavesdrop on what he's saying before we make our move!" said Lucy as she innocently elbowed Natsu underneath his chin.

The five of us changed our positions and snuck up to an area closer to where the masked man and his companions were headed. They seemed to be discussing their plans as we got within range of hearing.

"So we have intruders…" they masked man spoke softly, but within that voice was a hint of anger.

"I'm sorry, my emperor, but they were able to escape under our noses. Fear not, there's no way they could sabotage everything we've worked on so far, after all, they'd have to get through you first," said the man with bushy eyebrows. The three of the emperor's subordinates were on their tippy-toes with how they spoke with the masked man.

"How long until Deliora is revived?"

"That voice…" I heard Gray whisper to silently in skepticism.

"Either today, or tomorrow," the gothic girl had stated.

Gray nervously flinched as those words came from their mouths. The chill from before was making its way back into our group as Gray could barely contain his anger.

"Revive Deliora… Are you kidding me…" Gray angrily muttered under his breath.

I turned my attention back towards the masked man as he began speaking once again, this time with excitement in his voice.

"We're almost there…" he said as his voice almost became overcome by a despicable laugh. "About the intruders, I don't want any of them to get in the way. I believe the village on the other side of the island could become a nuisance as well."

I had not expected them to concern themselves over the villagers. My blood boiled and my head began pounding furiously as I had a premonition of what his next words would image of the hammer of a gun being cocked feverishly played itself through my mind as I stood posed and ready to wield my weapons. If this was what it came down to, we should've listened to Natsu in the first place, but thinking about that was useless now.

_Just try saying those words…_

"Shirou…?" Lucy asked timidly as she probably had noticed the tension in my face and body.

Time seemed to have slowed as I awaited the masked man's next words. When my heart raced and my senses heightened to whole new levels, I was constantly on edge, especially when my instinct to kill was surfacing. The masked man held out his hands, and gave out new orders to his submissive followers.

"Go and obliterate that village."

The trigger was pulled within me and suddenly my body moved almost without me realizing. A gust of wind whirled around the four presumed enemies and blew about pebbles and dust; this was merely the result of me reducing the distance between us in a split second. The unknown enemies in front of me were readjusting themselves from the sudden winds as I stood between the direction of the village and them with Kanshou and Bakuya gripped firmly in my hands. The finely crafted swords remained black and white even underneath the dim glow of the violet haze; free of taint and free of impurities, their existence was solely neutral.

"Make one move against the villagers, and I'll personally see that your heads have new resting places," I could feel the veins on my forehead bulging as I gritted my teeth intensely.

I continued glaring fiercely while the other members of Fairy Tail made their way to my side.

"I guess all members of Fairy Tail are reckless in their own way," Lucy said when she reached my side. There was no irritation or annoyance in her voice, rather there was a trace of appreciation.

"We're the ones you want, so lay off on the villagers!" Natsu shouted with the invigoration of all our thoughts.

The three followers of the masked man stood undecidedly; the situation has changed, it would no longer be a one-sided massacre.

"That mark! They're from Fairy Tail," the girl said.

"I see… the villagers have contacted help from a guild," replied Yuuka as he observed us from underneath his bushy eyebrows.

"Did I not give you a clear order? Go and obliterate the village," sternly announced the masked man.

A strong murderous intent developed from the one behind me as it suddenly charged on forward.

"YOU BASTARD!" Gray screamed at the top of his lungs while preparing for an attack. A deathly cold core formed in the center of his hands and he struck the ground at full force with it.

Crystal shards of ice made a direct path towards the masked man at an impeccable speed, but this was quickly countered. Ice of equal force and speed met with Gray's own right in the middle and completely halted both sides' advances. Their abilities were exactly the same… Could this be the other student of Gray's that he mentioned earlier?

"Lyon… Do you know what the hell you're doing?" Gray snarled, his voice sitting somewhere between indignation and desperation. The masked man named Lyon smiled mockingly as he removed his mask to reveal the face of a male that was similar in age to Natsu and Gray. He had light blue hair, but what really distinguished his face were his baleful and sharp looking eyes.

"You know him!?" shouted Lucy in surprise. Beside her was Happy who was also shrieking out in surprise.

"What do you think you're doing!?" shouted Gray, ignoring the baffled cries of those around him.

"I wonder… did you come here knowing about our activity, or was it just a cruel twist of fate?" Lyon said with a chuckle. "It matters not though, since you'll die here. I'll get rid of these pests, so you three go ahead and finish off the villagers!"

"Yes, sir!" the three of them saluted attentively.

I brought up my arm carrying Kanshou while keeping my focus fixated on the subordinates of Lyon. In the next instant several weapons were called forth from the realm within my mind and projected in the space above; filling the grave night sky with blood-thirsting steel. The air itself seemed to ripple as the weapons were projected into reality; it started with one sword which then doubled, then tripled… the amount of weapons forming in the sky continued to exponentially increase to a point where the total number reached well over fifty. The gloomy purple moon hung in the background and shone its cursed rays of light down onto the reflective blades of the weapons which hung inertly in the air within a radius of twenty meters from where I stood. If the violet moonlight was considered terrifying, then they haven't seen anything yet.

"This is way too cool!" I heard Natsu shouting from behind. Lucy was gazing about in awe while Gray maintained his glare towards Lyon.

"Lyon, I don't want to use force to stop your idiotic plans… Give up now," Gray said sternly as his hands began emitting a chilling vapor.

"Last warning," I told them in a grim tone. This time, the lives of my teammates and the unfortunate villagers who were exposed to the felony of these people before us were on the line. I didn't have the luxury to think about the lives of those who I wanted to strike down.

We were at a stalemate. There wasn't a smug look on Lyon's face any longer and instead it was replaced with a look of contempt. Despite his previous boasting about taking the Fairy Tail members on all at once, it seems he wasn't invulnerable to pointy metal weapons.

"Sherry… hurry up and get rid of those with your magic…" I heard Yuuka whisper with my reinforced sense of hearing.

"It's impossible… I can't seem to link with his weapons…" Sherry replied with a strained voice.

I could sense her magic repeatedly fluctuating as she continued directing her energy towards the wall of swords behind me; precautionary actions were required to stop them from countering my arsenal of weapons.

With a fluent motion, I lowered my arm to aim in the direction of the woman named Sherry. Following my calm action, one of the inanimate smaller daggers in the sky whistled across in the path I was pointing towards. Even for a weapon as small as they one I had fired, it was travelling at a speed fast enough to cause minor shockwaves of sound. It wasn't surprising to say that it was moving at a speed far beyond what anyone could react too.

The dagger nicked across the pale face of Sherry resulting in a deep cut which drew blood; the dagger then impaled itself onto the solid ground behind them before it disintegrated into a flash of particles. The dagger that just tore through the skies was easily replaced and projected once again.

"Don't try anything. Surrender now, if you value your lives." Asking individuals with a clear motive and goal in mind to surrender usually resulted in the opposite happening. It was still worth a shot though, even if these criminals attempted the ultimate sin, they were still living beings.

Once realizing what had just happened, the four of them immediately readied themselves for combat as expected. Sweat drops trickled down their nervous faces, with the exception of Lyon could still be said to have a confident expression. I sighed angrily, and prepared myself to unleash the full vehemence of my weapons decorating the skies. My teammates quickly understood my intentions.

"Shiro-!" Lucy tried shouting my name, but was quickly interrupted by a source that had snuck up behind Lyon.

"Well, well, looks like you're in a bit of trouble, Emperor Lyon. We can't have that now, can we?" an unknown voice caught all of our attention. It belonged to a stubby and scraggly looking man that was adorned in very tribal looking attire. He also wore a strange mask with four horns that covered his upper portion of his face. "There's a reason why your Doll Magic doesn't work on those weapons. They're completely made of magic!"

My weapons were projected into reality with identical compositions and the exact same features as the original; they were by no means inferior. It would take someone capable of great analysis or superb magical senses to be able to detect that my weapons were projected, rather than brought out of a different pocket-dimension much like Erza's magic. I was told that Erza uses magic called Requip which allows its users to store items so they could easily summon them at any time they choose. Most members who have seen my magic thus-far had never second-guessed themselves that my magic was anything otherwise. This new individual was undeniably irregular.

"Zalty… I don't recall asking for your help," Lyon muttered irritably.

"You're welcome, Emperor Lyon. I've also recruited the rest of your followers to hasten the ritual. Now that Fairy Tail is involved, it's not unreasonable that they'd have reinforcements coming," replied Zalty haughtily as he smiled viciously towards me. "I've never heard of Fairy Tail having an individual such as you, and usually members of Fairy Tail make themselves quite known throughout Fiore."

I didn't understand what he meant by the last portion of his sentence to me, but nonetheless he was still an enemy.

I concentrated on the weapons behind me and initiated the spark to send them hurling towards the adversaries.

"Freeze out. Continuous fire."

The weapons erupted with a fury and cut through the air as Lyon and his companions prepared to defend themselves. The howl of the weapons roared through the cool night, but suddenly it was terminated.

"Feisty aren't you," Zalty laughed out loud with one of his hands outstretched in front of him. "Look! Those weapons you were so proud of are nothing but fakes, they're completely worthless!"

The weapons I had projected were erased against my will. Before they had even reached their targets, their presence was no longer in this world. The weapons held within the skies above me were gone without a trace as well as Kanshou and Bakuya which was gripped firmly in my hands momentarily ago.

"I guess we have no other choice… Shirou," Gray spoke up promptly after seeing the peculiar scene that just occurred. His voice was still filled with antagonism, but now it was also laced with worry. "I just wanted to let you know, Lyon is mine."

Lucy strode up to me with Natsu and Happy by her side.

"L-leave those three to us!" exclaimed Lucy; it was obvious she was trying her best to hide her anxiety at the prospect of fighting against other mages, but there was something else causing her to fret.

"Tsk, so we get the cannon fodder… Oh well, Shirou, you better kick that guy's ass!" It was strange seeing Natsu give up fighting what would probably be the boss if this were a game, and instead settling for the minions.

The members of Fairy Tail had already designated themselves an opponent without even including me. Whatever they were scheming, I ought to say, I wholeheartedly agreed with their choices as that left me with Zalty.

"Happy, make sure you protect everyone," surprisingly, my voice came out sounding similar to an angry grunt.

"A-aye sir!" Happy agreed with a startled face.

'_Ahhh, I see…_ _At this very moment, I was angry_,' I concluded to myself. I hadn't noticed before, but now that I consciously thought about it, it was difficult to alter my facial expression to anything other a maddening smile. The one called Zalty had the temerity to call my weapons worthless, and right now the language of my body and expression of my face did not hide anything I was feeling. It has been a while since the last person ridiculed my traced weapons, calling them fakes, and there was almost no one I had despised greater than him. I could now feel the threatening grimace my face mechanically converted to as I glowered at Zalty.

I stretched out my left hand with the back side facing towards Zalty and gestured with my index and middle finger tauntingly.

"Come."

**Chapter 6 End**

Author Notes:

Fuahahah! So I finally got around to playing the fabled Ilya route (Monshiro from Majikoi S, closest you'll ever get), and god damn her laugh is addicting. Anyway, moving on;

Woohoo, 100 reviews! I had originally planned to finish this arc off with this chapter, but after looking at my word count I decided to cut it off halfway. So expect the next chapter up within a few days!

There's really nothing much to say about this chapter otherwise, I wasn't expecting that it'd take so much writing to reach the battles.

Reviewer Comments:

Comparing Shirou to a sheath, hahah, he really does have a lot of encounters with dominating women. To be honest, at first, I was thinking of throwing UBW Archer into Edolas, but now I'm thinking of other possibilities. Of course, if Shirou were the opposite of an Ally of Justice with a Hitler mustache, that pretty much spells the end of Edolas!

I always thought someone like Shirou would fit right into Fairy Tail; hopefully I'm doing that justice.

Yes, Shirou is well-above the required S-rank level. In terms of where he'd be placed in power level against other mages, that'll eventually make itself known by the fights I'll throw him into. Back with the Lullaby scene, I actually wanted the whole planning while huddled up to look somewhat comical. I'll be sure to touch that up later, thanks!

About the Coco lecturing portion, if you follow Fairy Tail you'll know that Edolas Coco loves running, so with this scene I was trying to show Coco being the opposite here in Earth Land. The reason I had him not kill the bandits was because there was no need to, Shirou was that much more stronger than them that he saw them as no threat, but of course being in Fairy Tail had a bit to do with it as well. During the Tenrou Island arc, there was a scene where someone mentions killing another person to the members of Fairy Tail and everyone just flipped out at that notion; I forget which scene exactly, but that's where the 'no killing' thing came in for me. Though I can see where you're coming from with Shirou's sudden shift in attitude, I'll see what I can do about that.

Shirou was thrown into an entirely new world; I think it's reasonable he's a little slow in things as he's trying to find balance. Shirou is very intelligent though, I do not doubt that.

Oh, Shirou doesn't know what's going on with the moon yet, but he has his theories.

The term 'mage' and 'wizard' are used interchangeably in Fairy Tail. I think it just depends on the translator you're following.

Hmm, a spell that lets everyone sees Shirou's past via dream, which would make it a lot easier to explain to everyone! I think I might do something along that line for revealing his past.

Have lots of casual sex and orgy scenes in my story? I guess there would be nothing else for Shirou to do once peace is obtained in Earth Land. You'll just have to wait till then lol.

Yeah, I never understood how Lucy would suddenly get stronger at times, besides the magical Second Origin awakening that came out of nowhere. Having Shirou around will definitely help!

I actually really like Levi's character and of course no one can hate Erza, so side missions will be a must with them!

Shirou has never been portrayed as overwhelmingly powerful, instead it's because of his versatility in different situations. Increasing his efficiency in his abilities gives way to many different choices in fights, so I'm glad you agree with the little buff.

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing even if it was a little dull and dialogue heavy chapter!

If you see any mistakes, problems with information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	8. Hero's Tail: Save the Demon Island 3

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 7**

[STORY START]

[Character Change – Lucy's Point of View]

If there was one thing Lucy truly understood about the secretive Shirou, it was not to make him angry. Erza was frightening enough when it came to imagining her mad, but when it came down to Shirou, you would almost feel like leaping off a cliff to escape his wrath. When Zalty had ridiculed Shirou's magic, it didn't result in a scowl from Shirou, but instead he seemed to smile wryly despite a murderous aura leaking from his body. Lucy had felt like her skin was about to tear itself away from her body and sprint off on its own. 'Could the real terror present on this island actually have been Shirou all along?' she thought.

Lucy shook her head vigorously and quickly ridded herself of the thoughts of some sort of evil Shirou; it wasn't ideal to look completely petrified in front of her enemies. There were three of them, the bushy eyebrows Yuuka, the dog-man Toby and the gothic looking girl named Sherry. Natsu was going to challenge two of them at once, no doubt about that, so now it was up to Lucy to decide who she was going to fight.

"I will… Take care of this!" without any sort of warning, Natsu dashed at Yuuka and Toby with an ignited fist.

They looked like they were still shaken up by Shirou's previous demonstration and weren't quite ready for Natsu's speeding fist of fire. Toby's head took the full brunt of the attack which almost sent his body into a full backwards somersault in the air.

It wasn't over yet; Natsu who was still up in the air wound his body so he was facing Yuuka.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" an explosion of fire erupted from Natsu's mouth, enveloping Yuuka in flames.

Seeing her comrades in danger, Sherry made her move by raising both her arms in the air. The ground before her aggressively shook as the earth and rocks in front began rising up against gravity.

"You made Emperor Lyon lose his trust in us! How dare you!" she sobbed uncontrollably. "Rock Do-"

"Oh no you don't!" Lucy shouted before Sherry was able to finish whatever spell she was preparing to cast. "Happy! Go and even out the fight between Natsu and those two!"

"Aye sir! Good luck Lucy!"

Lucy wielded her whip with the skills of a professional and struck it towards Sherry's outstretched arms. The whip's tip coiled itself several times around Sherry's arm until it was firmly held. This female was certainly going to be Lucy's opponent.

Natsu's battle continued to Lucy's side, and now was the start of her own.

These people were terrible people that elicited the curse onto the unsuspecting villagers, these people had almost tried killing the villagers and these people were going to kill Lucy and her teammates. Lucy repeatedly thought about this in her mind; she despised the use of violence, but she understood that at times it was necessary. She took a step back with her leg implanted into the ground and motioned her arms holding the handle of the whip downwards with all her force.

Lucy's actions caused Sherry's arm and body to violently jerk forward as she ultimately face-implanted into the soil.

'_Here's my chance,'_ Lucy thought. The moment Sherry hit the ground; Lucy sprinted forward towards the fallen body. There was no way Lucy's physical power could match any of the other Fairy Tail members' except Happy, but that didn't mean she couldn't deliver a mean blow to the head. Lucy, for the past few weeks, had been practicing a new attack for situations like the one she was in now. If everything went right, then she could simply end her fight right now, and go on to support Natsu.

"Doll-play Magic," said Sherry who was flat on her face. The whip coiled around Sherry's wrist suddenly released magically and this time, nearby trees were torn from their roots and accumulated in the air; it molded together to form a giant wooden structure. "Wood Doll."

It was a massive humanoid giant made up of trees and roots torn from the earth; it stood at least ten times the height of Lucy. The attack Lucy was planning on wasn't going to work any longer as the giant stood before her and Sherry.

"Crush her!"

The giant's wooden fist slammed down where Lucy was standing, and she quickly evaded to the side. Despite its size, it was fast to react as it re-positioned itself for another attack. Sherry wasn't the only one her could summon help to fight for her. Lucy withdrew her whip and grabbed one of the golden keys hanging from her side sash.

"Open! Door to the bull," Lucy could feel her magical powers being drained as she invoked the opening of her Celestial Spirit's seal. "Taurus!"

A very muscular bipedal bull appeared from a puff of smoke as Lucy completed her summoning. Its skin was colored and patterned much like a black and white cow that you would see on a farm and it had a very thin waist. Its upper torso was considerable which made it capable of wielding its deadly battle axe.

Taurus swung his axe and intercepted the wood golem's second attack, which cleaved up whatever part of the golem it had made contact with.

"Great job, Taurus!" the bull spirit was very reliable considering its great strength and durability. Though there was only one problem with it.

"Lucy's tits are the best! Let me see mooooooooooooore!"

The bull spirit was also a great pervert.

"To make a Celestial Spirit say such a thing; that's quite indecent of you," Sherry said amusingly.

"He does that on his own!" Lucy retorted in anger as she shook her fist. "Taurus! Finish her off!"

"It's amazing that it appears you have more than one of the Zodiac Keys, but unfortunately for you… I'm your worst possible enemy."

Before Taurus could make a move against Sherry, he suddenly turned around to face Lucy. Something was definitely wrong was all Lucy could think before she suddenly had to evade a giant battle axe that would've sliced her like scissors through paper.

"Moooooo!"

"Kyahh!" Lucy cried as she tried escaping the onslaught of steel. "Taurus stop! What's going on!?"

"Lucy… I can't control my body…" the giant bull's hand reached out towards Lucy's neck before she could dodge, and held on tight. Her airway was collapsed, and Lucy could no longer take a breath.

"My magic, 'Doll Play Magic' lets me control anything that isn't human! This of course applies to Celestial Spirits as well!" Sherry laughed out hysterically as she controlled Taurus from afar.

Lucy tried struggling against the hand pinning her down against the floor, but of course this had little to no effect on the giant of massive strength.

"Taurus, please go ahead and strip her," commanded Sherry.

"My pleasure!"

'_Was he really being controlled?' _Lucy thought as her vision started clouding. Sherry was beyond cruel… To humiliate their opponent in this way before finishing them off, the thought of how dehumanizing it was to their opponent, Lucy couldn't comprehend how anyone could fight in such a way.

The sounds of Lucy's clothes being ripped apart could be heard as the bull held her down with one hand while the other worked mercilessly on de-clothing her. The simple white tank-top she was wearing was reduced to nothing more than a few pieces of cloths as the bull looked at the last garment covering her chest.

"Close… D-door to the bull…" Lucy tried coughing out the words with the residual air in her lungs.

"It's pointless! You need the consent of both sides of the party in order to close the door!"

"I'm sorry Lucy… I can't close it… Moooooh!"

Taurus' hand reached for the remaining black bra covering Lucy's upper body. It was inevitable… Lucy was going to be shamed and degraded in front of both her comrades and enemies before she would die was the only thought lingering in Lucy's consciousness. Her lungs wouldn't last much longer underneath the pressure of the one straddling her. Her eyes shut tight... Lucy was beginning to walk towards Death's door, but something brought Lucy's consciousness back.

"…!" it was Shirou's voice; it sounded frantic and almost unworldly to Lucy. The stoic and powerful Shirou, what could've made him sound so distraught? The Shirou that Lucy saw was kind, calm, collected, compassionate and strong, but despite this, Lucy knew that deep underneath Shirou's exterior which felt like it was made of swords, he was definitely someone whose heart was easily wounded and broken. It was something Lucy never wanted to experience seeing… Who was the one hurting him? "LUCY!"

Her eyes jolted open in a flash. She didn't know if Shirou's voice was an illusion or reality, but one thing was certain, Lucy never wanted to be the source of Shirou's agony no matter what.

The magical powers within Lucy surged through her body as she gathered up whatever reserves of energy she had left. '_I can't make Shirou worry'_, she thought, creating the motivation she needed.

"CLOSE! DOOR TO THE BULL!"

"Thank goodness…" Taurus whispered as his form disappeared into a cloud of smoke surrounding Lucy.

A sudden gust of wind flashed above Lucy the next moment after Taurus disappeared. She wasn't able to depict what it was, but it had narrowly missed hitting Taurus before he vanished. Whatever it was, it was long gone now.

Lucy remained lying against the cold ground as she tried regaining her breathing rhythm. Every bit of air that entered her lungs came in gasps and wheezes; it was a miracle she hadn't passed out. Sherry was as every bit surprised as Lucy was as she looked down completely stunned.

"I actually did it… I've managed to use Forced Gate Closure…" Lucy said, still catching her breath. It took a large amount of magical power in order to force close a gate of a Celestial Spirit, and Lucy had just done so for the first time. "There's no doubt about it, I am a Fairy Tail member after all."

Lucy kicked herself up onto her feet and went on to looking Sherry straight in the eyes.

"Hmph… I guess you're not so bad," Sherry stated and walked over assertively to stand a few meters in front of Lucy. She raised her right arm up into the air and once again prepared to call upon another golem. "But what does it matter, you can't even use your Celestial Spirits"

"You saw what happened before to your golem! My Celestial Spirits will break them, and I'll just have to force close the gate every time you manipulate them!"

"Break it? I'd like to see you try," Sherry laughed. It looks like Lucy's threat did not work like she had planned. "Doll-Play Magic: Rock Doll!"

It felt like Lucy was in the middle of an earthquake as the ground viciously shook and began floating up into the air against gravity. Similar to the golem Sherry had summoned before, except this time it was made entirely of rocks and soil from the earth.

Sherry stood on top of the golem's flat rock solid head and proceeded to direct it in attacking Lucy. A rock fist hurled through the air, which Lucy had barely evaded.

"Kyahh!"

It was now a game of tag as Lucy sprinted away with all her might from the huge golem. Sherry's magic allowed her to control any non-human thing or object, but there had to be a weakness to it, thought Lucy.

An idea came to life in Lucy's head and she once again reached for one of her golden keys.

"Open! Door to the Maiden!" Lucy shouted out loud while running. Meanwhile Sherry looked on pokerfaced from above; she must've thought she was absolutely safe from anything Lucy could conjure. "Virgo!"

Only a glimpse of the pink-haired female Lucy had summoned could be seen before she swiftly dove beneath the ground.

"Ohoh? So you've hidden your Celestial Spirit underground from my watchful eyes, I guess you realized I can't control what I can't see," Sherry said sarcastically. "But what good that does."

"My Celestial Spirit's great prowess makes itself known in earth related terrains," Lucy had stopped running away and had now instead began racing towards the rock golem that Sherry was on top of. "Since you can't convert Virgo into your marionette by your magic, then she's free to exhibit her Earth Magic!"

It seems Sherry was catching on to what Lucy was spouting out, but before she could retaliate and figure out a counter plan, it was already too late.

"Spica Uppercut!" Virgo arose from the ground right underneath the location of the rock golem. She was dressed much like a maid was, with the exception of shackles hanging from her wrists like a wristband. She had blue eyes and pink hair; quite beautiful in her own ways. One of Virgo's abilities was her Diver magic, which allowed her to easily pass through rocks and soil from underground much like she was swimming in water. Since the rock golem Sherry had created was entirely made up of that… well no further explanations were needed.

Virgo's fist flew straight through the rubble of the golem and completely split the golem into two parts, but that wasn't all. At the speed she was travelling at, it was enough to connect with the jaw of Sherry.

The uppercut shot her straight off the head of the collapsing golem and into the air.

"How dare you!" Sherry angrily shouted.

It was now time for Lucy to unleash to ability she was planning on using earlier before she was interrupted by Sherry's golem. Lucy generated and focused all her enduring physical force onto her legs. She looked up onto the falling Sherry, and sprang up into the air to give her one last attack.

"Lucy Kick!"

Lucy's left foot connected with Sherry's jaw which had been hit just seconds ago, causing her to crash straight into the ground head-first. She was now seeing stars, both in the night sky and in her mind.

"Even if the candle of my life will be blown out… My love for Emperor Lyon will not change…" said Sherry, right before her eyes rolled back and her body laid motionless.

"It's not like you're dead…" Lucy sighed and she began faltering backwards from having no strength left in her legs.

"Princess, have I done a good job?" Before Lucy could fall onto her butt, the maid Virgo caught her by the shoulders. "Will I be punished?"

"Thanks Virgo. No there will be no punishment."

"Tsk," she clicked her tongue.

Lucy had realized that she has grown ever since entering Fairy Tail; no longer was she someone who hidden behind the backs of others, but she was able to fend for herself if needed be.

"Virgo, could you bring me to the others?"

_I won't become a burden for Shirou!_

[Character Change – Gray's Point of View (Fifteen Minutes Ago)]

The others have cleared the area while fighting, leaving Gray and Lyon alone in the same spot where they had left them. This was for the best; Gray knew that if he were to fight alongside Natsu, the tables would quickly turn on them even if Shirou was on their side. In time, everyone's fighting style will overlap with one another, but currently it was all jumbled up. Fighting individually was the top course of action as of now; it was lucky that Lyon and his crew thought the same way. There was absolutely no synergy between Gray and Natsu, Lucy's fighting potentials were still unknown, and Shirou was a complete mystery, though he most likely had a similar fighting style like Erza. There was something incoherent about Shirou's ability though, previously the man named Zalty had said Shirou's weapons were made up of magic.

'_Just another thing I would have to find out later_,' Gray thought.

"It looks like you've found yourself some interesting companions, Gray. But it doesn't seem like you've been able to fix your recklessness," Lyon said teasingly as the two of them faced off against each other.

"Stop acting like you're my senior," warned Gray. "Neither of us are Ur's student any longer."

"Same goes for you, Gray. Why are you becoming so passionate about what I'm doing here? Ur isn't alive anymore."

"She lost her life in order to seal Deliora! Why the hell are you trying to destroy her legacy!?"

"You're the one who killed her… Don't try avoiding what actually happened; how could you live with yourself knowing that fact!? For you to stand before me is a sight far too pitiful!"

Before Gray could even react, a beam of ice shot straight towards him with enough force to toss him off balance and onto the ground.

"Dammit…"

"What's wrong Gray? Feeling too guilty to even fight back? Are you looking to die to repent for your sins? If that's the case, I ask of you not to get in my way of reviving Deliora."

It was true that Gray was feeling remorse over his past, but there was no way that'd get in the way of him preventing Deliora's revival. The devil of misfortune and disaster, it was the source of Gray's suffering and torture, so there was absolutely no way he'd ever let that monster roam across the country again, lest someone else were to feel the same pain Gray did. It was his duty to stop Deliora from walking this planet again, otherwise, how else was he to find his redemption?

With his goal implanted in his mind, Gray stood back up on his feet.

"I won't let you," Gray stated firmly. The same fire was ignited in his eye once again.

"That's the spirit, let's have a match for old times' sake," replied Lyon humorously.

[Scene Break]

It was a completely one-sided match. Compared to Gray who uses a static form of 'Ice Make' magic, Lyon uses the dynamic form which encompasses creations of ice that almost seem to have a will of its own. Dynamic 'Ice Make' magic could form anything from birds to giant apes, each which would be attuned to the minds of its maker.

Every spell Gray had used, whether it be hammers to lances, Lyon would easily counter with his own specialized spell. Because of Gray's static creations, it was hard to defend against Lyon's which would weave and twine around his defenses and easily get a direct hit onto Gray.

It wasn't only the type of magic each of them used; Lyon had also been using one-hand in order to initiate his magic in contrast to Gray who used both hands. Lyon's preparation time was reduced and could overwhelm Gray's own magic in an instant.

"I'm special. I've surpassed Ur's power long ago," without even breaking a sweat, Lyon casually informed Gray.

"Don't think too highly of yourself…"

"Same goes for yourself, were you even able to hit me once?"

Those words struck a nail into Gray's head as he gritted his teeth heatedly.

"I'm not the same as I used to be back then!" Gray shouted as he initiated one of his most powerful and taxing spells. "Ice Geyser!"

Mountains of ice crystals sprung from the ground beneath Lyon. It tore through the grounds and towered high up into the skies; it was a spell that drained Gray of his energy immensely. He stared at his crystalline creation and looked for the clarification for his victory. What he found was the complete opposite.

"Pathetic… I'm still the stronger one and you're the weaker. This fate of ours has been frozen in place, it will never change!"

With one hand, Lyon invoked his own powerful spell. A fearsome dragon made from ice spiraled upwards and slashed Gray with its knife-like scales while standing erect as if to symbolize Lyon's pride.

"Guwaaaah!" Gray screamed out.

Abrasions and gashes were left all across his body and blood seeped through from underneath his clothing. Even by freezing the open wounds, it was exceeding what Gray could constantly support.

"Ur was my goal; it was my dream to surpass her. But you ruined the dream, Gray. I thought it to be impossible to continue that dream, but there's still a way… If I can defeat Deliora, whom Ur could not even defeat… then I will have surpassed her. My dreams can become reality!"

"Are you an idiot!? That's the reason you spent the last three years of your life trying to achieve!? You should know how dreadful Deliora is! It's impossible for the likes of you to defeat it!"

There definitely had to be some way of convincing Lyon to give up on his pointless dream, Gray thought. Judging by the way Lyon was snarling at the moment, it didn't seem to be going well for Gray. The magical energy within Lyon flowed into the surrounding environment; it was as overwhelming as it was vexing. With Gray's current physical and mental condition, it was most likely that he was not going to last after Lyon's next attack.

"Back then… we told you the exact same words. Don't tell me you forgot how you killed Ur!" a deep rage took over Lyon's mind. "Vanish! Die!"

Razor sharp blades of ice once again burst forth from where Gray once was; fortunately he was no longer standing there. At the last second, a flying blue cat heaved him into the air, just narrowly escaping the fatal attack.

[Character Change – Natsu's Point of View (Fifteen Minutes Ago)]

After landing a punch on the dog and spraying the bushy eyebrows with fire, Natsu had taken the lead in this battle. Happy had fluttered over after Lucy ordered him to assist Natsu with his fight.

"Happy, make sure to support me," Natsu said to his most trusted friend. "Not that I'll need it! Hahah!"

"Aye sir! Let's show them the power of Fairy Tail!"

Natsu was still a little dissatisfied that Shirou was the one who would get all the glory of fighting a strong opponent. There was something about that Zalty guy that spelled trouble; not only that but he seemed to have the scent of women perfume. It was still a mystery what he did to Shirou's swords, but it was unquestionabe this Zalty guy was strong and perverted… just like Gray. Thinking about how he would've pulverized that clown, Natsu got himself riled up.

"Such a violent flame," said Yuuka after brushing away Natsu's flame. Not a single hint of damage could be seen on him. "You must be the rumored Salamander of Fairy Tail!"

Natsu got back into his combat-mode after seeing Yuuka unaffected. It seems that he had to be on alert as even Toby got back onto his feet.

"I'm fired up!"

[Scene Break]

Just like Natsu had expected, the fight lasted just under a dozen minutes. Yuuka's anti-magic vibrations sounded like a nuisance when Natsu had first learned about it, but after realizing Yuuka was entirely dependent on it, Natsu had easily penetrated his defenses and knocked him out cold.

For Toby, it wasn't even much of a fight, the guy's brain was less than both human and dog. The battle went like this. Toby's nails were enchanted with poison that could paralyze a wyvern, taking advantage of this, Natsu had tricked him into sinking his own nails into his forehead; Toby now looked and acted like he had rigor mortis.

"Good job, Happy!" Natsu said and gave a friendly high-five to his partner.

"Just doing my job," Happy said dutifully.

In the distance, the crackling of ice could be heard as Natsu looked in its direction. A grand pseudo-dragon made of ice could be seen rearing its head; Natsu could feel its magical presence from here which would make it a very potent spell. Besides that, it was a surreal scene. Even when it was just a creation by magic, the image of dragons had always given Natsu a feeling of nostalgia as he remembered the treasured feelings and memories he had with his father Igneel the flame dragon.

After taking a few seconds to calm his emotions, Natsu realized something else.

"That's not Gray's magic," Natsu said out loud to no one in particular.

"Does that mean Gray's in trouble?" Happy asked out in worry.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Natsu's intuitions and gut-feelings were pretty much always spot on. "Happy, go help Gray!"

"Aye sir!"

[Character Change – Gray's Point of View]

Gray felt his body hanging lifelessly from the paws of Happy as they drifted through the air in a direction away from Lyon. Nothing felt real to Gray anymore; just what was his reason for living? It was just like Lyon said; how was Gray living with Ur's blood on his hands? He had thrown his past into the deepest corner of his mind, hoping that it was just a bad dream, hoping that it would never resurface. He should've known it was just delaying the inevitable.

Lyon was right, a person like me shouldn't even exist, Gray thought.

"Lame… it looks like you got your ass kicked," it was Natsu.

Happy had carefully dropped Gray onto the ground as he could barely stand now that the adrenaline and endorphins in his body were wearing off. They couldn't have been far from Lyon, who was likely hunting them down right now. It seems Natsu was able to beat his opponents and right now he was the last person Gray wanted to see. Why was that? Gray thought.

"You're right…" Gray replied depressingly. "I'm sorry…"

"Huh?"

Gray has called Natsu reckless and impulsive a countless number of times; he had even gotten angry over seeing Natsu taking on an S-class quest. Now that he began recollecting his past, Gray felt he had no authority to say such a thing to Natsu. After all, Gray had contradicted everything he had ever thought and lived by. He wasn't a proud and confident warrior, he could never face his greatest fears head on, and his own recklessness led his teacher Ur to her sacrifice her own life.

And it donned on Gray the reason why he couldn't look at Natsu's face. The flame mage who he had considered his life-long rival; Natsu was everything Gray had wanted to be. Natsu was someone who stepped forward against unthinkable foes, someone who never regretted and someone who could show his emotions. How could Gray even show his pitiful face to Natsu?

"Natsu… I can't blame you for anything…" the cold exterior Gray had always tried maintaining melted off with his tears. "I really can't…"

"What the hell are you trying to say…?"

"I'm a coward; I've been running away from the fact that I'm the one responsible for killing Ur!"

"…"

"I'm a complete hypocrite… I talk about saving lives and facing problems head on, but in reality I've done the complete opposite of those, yet I haven't even tried atoning for them. You should've left me to die by the hands of Lyo-"

The tear drenched face of Gray was suddenly connected with the flaming fist of Natsu. All the tears of Gray were evaporated as Gray flew hard to hit the ground.

"You bastard… I heard everything of your past back in the cave, and you're by no means a coward… After that event, you weren't running away from your problems, instead you carried them on your shoulders while still moving forward; isn't that why you're still feeling so upset by it!? You push on forward despite carrying all that extra weight, that's what Fairy Tail is all about. WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!"

"Natsu…" Gray apologetically said as he clutched his bruised face.

"Getting yourself killed for a false sense of atonement, that would be running away… would your teacher have wanted you to foolishly give your life away, even after giving her own to save it!?"

"No… she wouldn't…" Gray pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Then get your ass back up! We have a mission to finish for Fairy Tail!"

"Thanks… Natsu…"

"Hmph, I just didn't want the person people considered my rival to look like such an idiot."

"I see, to return the favor, here's something from me!"

"Huh?"

It seemed to have been a pattern between the two of them. Before Natsu could properly react, his face was met by a cold hard fist. The heated fury Natsu previous felt towards Gray was now cooled down.

"You're a hundred years too early to try telling me what to do you bastard!"

"What'd you say!?" Natsu roared back against Gray's accusation, but there was a certain hint of joy in his tone.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

Gray was as ready as Natsu to lock fists against one another; it was obviously not the smartest thing to do. Luckily for them, they had another companion to set them straight.

"Now's not the time for this!" Happy shouted out, but not before delivering his own physical persuasion. He pulled two fishes from his knapsack and smacked both Gray and Natsu across the faces with them. "Gray's friend, Lyon, will be arriving any moment now. We should be prim and proper to greet him!"

The two humans stared absentmindedly at Happy. Was it because they were thinking about what to do against Lyon, or was it because they had just been slapped across the face by a dead fish? They weren't too sure themselves.

"You're right," Natsu said. "But Happy… If you ever do that again, you'll be joining those fishes!"

"Bwehh," Happy pulled the bottom of his eyelids down and stuck out his tongue mockingly at Natsu.

"Natsu, Happy, what are the two of you going to do from here?" Gray asked before the two of them could argue.

"Hrmmm?" Natsu looked confused.

"I've said it in the beginning, but Lyon is my battle."

"Huh!? You just got the crap beat out of you by him. If anything, I and Happy should be fighting him. I'll melt that ice of his!"

"No, this is my fight."

"Serious?"

"Last time, I was fighting Lyon as a child. This time I'll fight him as a Fairy Tail mage."

"Tsk, I can't argue with that then," Natsu said despairingly, I guess he was upset about skipping out on another strong opponent. Following that, he lifted his fist towards Gray. "Shirou should be fine, so I'll go check up on Lucy before heading in his direction. Don't embarrass yourself again."

"Who do you think I am?" Gray raised his own fist against Natsu's and the two of them bumped knuckles. "I am a Fairy Tail mage."

[Scene Break]

How could I have forgotten? Gray thought amusingly to himself. There was a reason he hadn't collapsed underneath the gravity and pressure of his past actions; it was because of Fairy Tail. Gray would have to properly thank Natsu later on for bringing him back to his senses; albeit not through words, but how Fairy Tail members do it, through their fists.

'_I'm doing what Ur would've wanted me to do; meeting strong individuals and sharing my strength with those who need it.'_

There was one last thing Ur would have wanted Gray to do and that was bringing her first student, Lyon, back from his delusional path.

"It took you long enough to find me, I'm already fully recuperated," Gray said out loud to the figure making its way towards him. Gray was standing shirtless and proudly revealed his bloody cuts and darkened bruises as if saying these with nothing more than little annoyances.

"So you stuck around to die, you've finally understood your folly in trying to hinder me," Lyon replied back.

"Lyon, stop this," Gray told him blatantly.

"What!?" the calm composure Lyon had was easily replaced with a visible fury.

"Ur is still alive," if Lyon could understand the reality of what he was trying to accomplish, then maybe he would give up. "Iced Shell converts the body of the caster into an unbreakable ice. Ur is that ice… what you're trying to do is ultimately destroy what's left of Ur."

An astonished face was plastered on Lyon and was quickly hidden as he lowered his gaze; it was difficult to make out his expression underneath the shadow of the moonlight.

"I had promised Ur to tell you that she had died, but she still lives on as that ice!"

_If he'd learn that I became ice; I bet he'll spend his entire life trying to undo this magic. _These were the exact words Ur had told Gray in her final moments. There was no other choice but to break that promise between the two.

"Gray…" Lyon stepped towards the resolute individual in front.

"Lyon, please stop this nonsen-"

"I already know all that. You actually believe that scrap of ice sealing Deliora is Ur?"

Before Gray could even react, Lyon had materialized a sword made of ice and punctured through the side of his abdomen.

"Don't play around with me, GRAY!"

The feeling of warm blood running down Gray's core shook him to his senses and he brought both of his hands along the flat side of the ice blade. With all his might, Gray snapped off the blade where it had connected with his stomach through the infusion of his own ice magic and hastily leapt back a distance away from Lyon.

"Grow up! Ur is already dead!" Lyon laughed out at the struggling Gray.

"You god damn bastard…" disregarding the excruciating pain Gray turned his overflowing anger into his source of energy. "I won't let you disgrace Ur like this!"

The speed Gray moved at surpassed what he thought he was capable of; there were no longer any limits or blockades holding him back. This wasn't a simple one on one battle; this had become a fight where everything Gray cherishes was on the line. Gray simply didn't have the time to worry about his body's capabilities or how hard he could push his body before it broke.

Gray's fist propelled through the air like a rocket and slammed across Lyon's pale face. It was the first hit Gray had landed on Lyon, but surely not the last.

A burst of blood poured from Lyon's mouth as he tried recovering from how much he shook from the blow.

"Impossible! How can you move like that with that kind of injury!?"

"I'm fed up with you Lyon…" Gray growled passionately. "I wanted to save you, but I'm seriously fed up with it."

"Wha-!?"

Lyon distorted his face in shock.

Gray created and nocked his bow of ice within a split second and aimed it at the place between Lyon's eyebrows.

"Too slow," Gray said before he released three identical ice arrows which rifled through the air.

It exploded on contact and released a deathly cold fume close to absolute zero. Lyon remained standing, but was quickly swept to the floor when Gray followed up his attack with a knee to Lyon's bloodied face.

"Guooh!" Lyon rolled across the ground until his acceleration was stopped by his body slamming against a large boulder.

"You've wasted the past three years of your life over something so trivial… Stronger than Ur? You have got to be kidding me; with your current atrocious attitude and pessimistic view of life, you can't even beat me!" Gray had almost appeared like an apparition of death as he walked fiercely towards Lyon even while his body was smeared with his own blood. "GROW THE HELL UP, LYON!"

"I'm actually being hurt because of Gray… Because of Gray!" Lyon shouted as he stood back up. "But what does it matter, Zalty will defeat your companions and Deliora will revive for me to destroy it! You're too late!"

Gray snickered evilly at the last comment; he has had the opportunity to see Shirou's destructive potentials first-hand, and even that was not likely Shirou's full potential.

"You're lucky Zalty was the one who pissed Shirou off and not you."

"I won't let you make a fool out of me…" Lyon lifted one hand and prepared his next attack. "Ice Make: Snow Dragon!"

It was Lyon's most powerful spell that he had used before to seriously injure Gray. It was going to end differently this time; expecting the attack, Gray formed two blades of ice along the skin of his arm. He eloquently dodged the sweeping dragon as he swirled around him, all while dancing his blade dance of ice. With every turn of his body, the blades slashed across body of ice, reducing it to shreds. The dragon dissolved into a cloud of mist.

"This can't be…" Lyon was petrified; was it from the astonishment of seeing someone able to not only dodge, but destroy his most powerful spell, or was it from fear of the impending defeat.

"One-handed molding is unbalanced. That's why I was easily able to defeat it; isn't that what Ur taught us?"

Gray stood poised in a position where his legs were split apart and firmly implanted onto the ground as he raised both his hands in the air. His magic power surged and a formidable cannon was formed on top of his shoulders.

"Ice-Cannon!"

Every last ounce of power was discharged from Gray and into the shot fired from the cannon. The recoil from the shot was enough to lift Gray off his feet and have him lying on the ground.

"AHHHHHH!" Gray hadn't seen the moment before the cannon exploded on Lyon, but from the screams, it was enough to tell how effective it had been.

Tremors shook the hill as the result of Gray's attack left a large crater sized destruction of the area, with Lyon standing at its center covered in ice and blood.

"G-G-Gray…"

The former student of Ur collapsed onto his knees as he coughed out blood.

"I believed in Ur's words," Gray said out loud as got back up onto his feet. "She told me there were strong mages in the west and that's how I ended up in Fairy Tail. She was right; I couldn't believe my eyes at how unbelievably strong some of these individuals were, but what I couldn't believe most was how much I came to love them as family. Lyon, I hope you find something you can love one day."

Lyon did not reply, but Gray knew for sure he could hear his words. With nothing much more to say, Gray made his way slowly to where he could sense the ongoing battle between Shirou and Zalty.

His injuries began throbbing as the ice he used to patch up the wound could barely keep the blood from spilling out, but he was determined to do everything he could to prevent Deliora from awakening.

After a few minutes, Gray arrived at the scene ready to assist Shirou in his battle, but the sight before him was completely different than what he had expected. Natsu, Lucy and Happy were also at the scene as they stared wide-jawed at what had transpired over the fight.

The entire area where the two of them was demolished and completely leveled; whatever vegetation and wildlife that had been living there previously was nothing more than specks of dust now.

Close to ten swords stuck out from the ground across the vast field, almost symbolizing the brutality and the feeling of demise that this battle had exerted.

Shirou stood with poise as he was positioned a couple dozen meters away from his opponent; despite standing proudly he had obviously sustained quite a bit of damage in his left arm, while his right hand held a sinister looking bow. The opponent was injured way beyond what the state Shirou was in and was beginning to bleed profusely. She clutched her sides with a menacing dagger protruding from it and heaved copiously… _She?_ Looking closer, Gray had suddenly felt like his heart was sliced in two.

"Ur…?"

**Chapter 7 End**

Author Notes:

So… another cliff-hanger before we hit the main course of the fight. Have no fears, the next chapter will be up within a day! I'm just separating the chapters again after seeing the length of what I wrote, even I get tired after reading 17000+ words in one sitting on my screen (which is how long the chapter would be if I hadn't separated it lol).

This is how I'm planning on writing fight-scenes and scenes where multiple characters are involved, is it alright? Or is it too all over the place? Maybe I should ask again after Shirou's fight so you can see it all coming together.

I basically skipped out on Natsu's battle; it would've been pretty much like how it happened in the manga, except with Happy flying around. Lucy's was expanded upon a bit more for reason which will be seen next chapter, and since this arc deals with Gray, I wouldn't cheap out on giving him character development.

Shirou's battle and conclusion for sure next time!

Reviewer Comments:

Erza will definitely have her moments in my story; it's just that at times, there is only room for one sword-swinging maniac.

Let Shirou discover a new recipe? Wouldn't be Shirou if he wasn't cooking; the adventures of Shirou and the kitchen after this arc hahah!

I think you're mixing up my Shirou with the other fanfiction crossover. The Shirou is my story is 100% human so he still needs to sleep. I'll comment on the rest of your review at the end of the next chapter.

I realized the implications and discord that would arise from me having Zalty erase Shirou's projections, but my explanations for it will be in the next chapter! We are basically dealing with the Fifth Magic when it comes to Zalty, but of course I believe I understand the mechanics behind Shirou's UBW as well so tune in next time.

Glad you liked the cliff-hanger, have another!

Hmm, still undecided what to do with Shirou and the Second Origin; do I really want Shirou to become unstoppable? Surely not. I'll come up with something by the time I reach there hahah…

I guess Shirou tracing a hammer was a bit of a stretch, but he has plenty of reserve prana lol.

For the explanation about how Zalty is erasing Shirou's projections, I'll compare it to mine's next time.

Well even if I already have a pairing in mind, as a character in the on-going anime 'Kokoro Connect' said, "The selfless freaks will always attract the girls." I think Shirou fits that perfectly well.

"4th verse of the bible of Nasuverse: Thou art a Main Hero, Thou shalt have harem" HAHAH, and no worries, I'd probably end up laughing at my own work if I added lemon.

I see what you mean about Shirou already being an anomaly; I'll think more about it.

Yeah it one of the main reasons why I thought of other things besides UBW Archer, you're completely right. Your review is basically spot-on with everything lol, of course you'll find out why next chapter. And about the mana conversion, I might need to include something like that when Shirou busts out the big weapons, so I'll mention it when I get to that point.

The harem will definitely be fed by Shirou hahah!

Ahh, I suppose they have only known each other for like a week. The karate chop was more of a friendly gesture then actually hitting Natsu, I'll go back and make that more clear. With punching Gray, I guess I should really include an inner monologue for Shirou's reason for doing that, thanks!

Hmm, a spell that has different people getting different parts of Shirou's past… I can see that somehow working, thanks for the idea!

The only lemons in my story that I have planned will be in Shirou's cooking, thanks.

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing, next chapter will be up within a day!

If you see any mistakes, problems with information, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	9. Hero's Tail: Save the Demon Island 4

Hero's Tail; Chapter 8

[STORY START]

[Shirou's Point of View (Half an hour ago)]

Our legs carried us to an open portion of the hill lacking in the department of obstacles, meaning trees, rocks and most importantly, people. I needed to lure Zalty to an open-area and despite aggravating me beyond words; he still had the sensitivity to comply, thus assuring that there would be no extra casualties in our collision. I was still shaken up from my first mission where I had let my enemies take a hostage, so it was quite a relief that Zalty agreed to moving locations. Either he hypothesized that I would be quite the challenge and was worried about the safety of his companions, or he was overflowing with confidence and was merely entertaining my wishes before he would obliterate me to nothingness. I believed he leaned more towards the latter.

I was still within a close enough range to detect the presences of my comrades. Their safety was still my upmost priority.

There will be destruction and there will be blood, standing just mere steps away was the first real opponent I would have since arriving in Earth Land. Even now, I could tell that his confidence was not unwarranted; his body almost felt like it was spilling over with magical energy, and his earlier show of erasing all my projected weapons had shown that he was not to be underestimated.

I felt my body urging to shake, but I quickly suppressed it, lest embarrassing myself in front of my opponent. It was not fear I was feeling, but rather it was a mixture between rage and excitement; how outlandish would I have appeared if I were to have such a wild expression? Certainly it was something to be expected of from Natsu, but I enjoyed concealing my emotions as opposed to letting my opponents read me like a book.

I just hoped that this Zalty individual would not disappoint my expectations of him. It was fine and dandy if I could easily thwart his attacks and defeat him, then we could complete the mission. But deep down within my instinctive drives, I was itching for a battle with a powerful mage of Earth Land. For several minutes we continued sizing one another up and looked for any visible weaknesses that could be found from pure observation. It was the pre-game warm-up before the real show started.

"Can I ask you one thing before we begin?" I calmly asked him despite tossing back the impulse to shout out in anticipation.

"Hmm? What is it?" he replied sardonically with his irritating voice.

It wasn't so much that I absolutely despised Zalty for calling my weapons fakes, after all that's essentially what they were. The weapons I have stored within the archives of my minds are not original, instead they are the blueprints of weapons I have seen throughout my life containing everything I needed to reproduce the weapon. They are noble weapons, and I have pride in them even if they are fakes.

There was a deeper meaning behind my animosity; the only person ever to call me a 'Faker' was one I had to defeat without question. This person and I were both 'owners' of weapons, but we were opposite sides of the same coin. He was someone who took everything, and I was someone who gave everything; our purposes were bound to collide and seek to destroy each other. Being called a 'Faker' by Zalty reanimated the memories and the abhorrence I felt towards this person, Gilgamesh.

Zalty was indeed someone I had to defeat, but he unfortunately would have to deal with me releasing steam in the process. There was still something else that fascinated me about him.

"Why do you want to unseal Deliora? It certainly isn't so Lyon can defeat it; after all I can already tell you're on a whole different level when comparing magical potentials."

"Ohoh? You can tell? I suppose I can tell you since you're going to die anyway," he answered with a sly grin. "Deliora will surely decimate Lyon and his followers, and following their demise I will take control of Deliora and have it completely under my command. Doesn't the thought of controlling one of Fiore's greatest demons that have ever walked just enlighten you? Take it as I tell you, it's as simple as that and I have no other ulterior motives. Is there anything else you desire to know before I proceed to gut you like a pig?"

_So that's his reason for following me away from the others_. Zalty had no allies, he could care less if everyone on this island was slaughtered, and it mattered not to him. Pursuing me all the way out here was not out of charity, but gave him an opportunity to hide from the eyes of others while he waited for Deliora to revive. In other words, he was already certain that he had the match in the palm of his hand.

"No," I candidly told him.

To be honest, I still had questions regarding his magic, but this would ultimately make itself known during the course of battle. When it came to fights between mages, the biggest advantage one mage has against the other has been the mystery of their abilities. It all came down to whether one mage could properly respond to the hidden tricks a mage had up their sleeves. This battle between me and Zalty was going to be this kind of battle; each of us would start as a blank slate for one another to identify and pierce through. I wouldn't want to give my opponent a disadvantage by trying to discover the complications of his magic so early on.

"I see I see… I guess it would be pointless to continue our talk," Zalty said as he nodded his head in agreement. "Then without further ado."

Zalty reached within his sleeve and drew out a teal orb which almost looked like a crystal ball because of its size and lustre. I activated my Structural Grasp Magecraft which allowed me to determine any objects material composition if it could be found back in my world. Just like I thought, the orb was crafted from a tough natural occurring substance, sapphire, which ranks quite high in the hardness factor. It seems after looking deeper; it also had magical properties imbued. Now the question was what was he going to do with it?

The teal orb danced primitively in his palm and soon enough levitated right above. It remained afloat for several seconds and then it disappeared.

Not actually disappeared, but Zalty had given his orb enough kinetic energy to send it hurling towards me at ridiculous speeds. Blinking my eyes would've resulted in my bones cracking under the full force that the orb had. It was easily travelling faster than any bullet could be fired from a gun and against any normal person, it would've had an effect greater than any calibre gun could achieve.

Still, when it came to supersonic speeds, I was more than accustomed to them.

I tilted my neck to the side and the orb coasted right past my earlobe; the resulting sound waves from the sonic boom would've deafened anyone at this close of proximity. To counter this, I had reinforced the membranes of my ear to resist air movements to a greater extent and remained unaffected by the blasts of sound.

It wasn't going to end just with that though; somehow the orb had generated enough force to reduce its velocity to zero as it persisted to remain afloat.

It soared towards me once again with supersonic speeds; It'd become troublesome to deal with later on, so there was only one answer to this.

_Trace on_. Within the last nanoseconds before the orb's trajectory would smash against me, the polished edge of metal carved through the once remarkable orb and split it into two. The two halves of the orb flew straight past me in opposite angles from the redirection caused by the standard shape of the one-handed sword. I may be biased when it comes to swords, but the one my hand clasped tightly around was both deadly and beautiful; much like its owner.

The most distinguishable segment was the guard of the sword which was created to resemble a pair of wings, other than that it looked nothing more than your regular sword. This was not the case; when I first analyzed the sword, my mind had burned the instant I saw it. It wasn't so much as to do with pain, but more to do with the fact that I could not recognize it. Staring at the sword was much like staring at an incomplete puzzle with thousands of pieces; it was disturbing to say the least. For the past few nights I had wracked my brain into putting the pieces together before falling asleep, it was my duty after all considering my affinity for swords. Luckily, it wasn't too difficult. The materials were much like the ones back in my own world with minor alterations in chemical structures making it not impossible to determine. In terms of technology, this world was far behind, but when it came to magical weapons they were similar or perhaps even more advanced.

I swung the sword in the motion of a cross and tested the weapon's weight and feel. Erza's nameless blade had surprisingly remained undamaged from slicing the orb in two. It wasn't the smartest of ideas to assess the reliability of a weapon during a fight, but since it worked wonders against the ball of pure sapphire, it passed the examination.

"Ohoh? I guess you're not too bad," Zalty sneered as he stood at the exact same spot. The relatively short man raised his one hand and began channeling his magic.

_Here it is._

It was the same magic he had used before to somehow erase my projections from reality. I continued pouring prana into the weapon I was holding and ingrained the image into my mind in order to strengthen the projection.

It was all for nil. I could feel the projection weakening at an accelerated rate and suddenly the prana I was exerting had nowhere to go.

The weapon was back within the confines of my inner world, in other words a Reality Marble, and safely tucked away for later use.

The disappearance of my projection wasn't the only bizarre happening; the orb which was split in two began motioning towards each other like magnets. When they finally connected it still was not complete, this was because it was not perfectly split into two parts which resulted in bits and pieces of sapphire spread across the ground. Miraculously, these smaller fragments joined together, filling in the cracks and indents of the orb.

Usually it'd be impossible to reattach broken pieces of minerals without exposing them to high temperatures or pressures, but the way the orb reformed seemed almost magically, as redundant as that sounds. It was as if it was never cracked open in the first place.

I had adopted the terms of Earth Land by referring to 'magecraft' as 'magic' because in this world, most magecraft would be considered 'magic'. But the definition of 'magic' in my own world is a class of mystery that surpasses even magecraft. It goes beyond the natural processes of the world and goes as far as overruling the natural laws of nature. 'Magic' would be considered a true miracle.

At first it seemed like an irrational explanation of Zalty's enigmatic abilities, but now it was beginning to feel very plausible.

"It's strange, your powers are downright useless against mines, yet you still maintain a composed face. Are you that stupid to realize you're clearly outmatched?" provoked Zalty as he kept the orb hovering above his hand. "Then let me beat it into your head…"

One, two, four, eight… The number of orbs multiplied instantly from thin air; it wasn't hidden underneath Zalty's cloak like the first orb, but instead, each one of the new orbs was the first one. They were exact in size, weight, sheen and hardness.

"Are you surprised? My abilities 'The Arc of Time' belongs to the lost magic. Each of these copies represents the path my orb could've taken in parallel worlds, meaning these orbs are the future possibilities my orb can take! In other words, you're not just fighting against me… you're fighting against the past, present and future!" Zalty laughed out arrogantly as he relished over his pretentiousness. "Your ability of molding weapons out of magic is quite impressive, but all I have to do is reverse the time of your weapons to before you created them. The weapons you create will be reduced to nothing more than magic dust while my orbs pummel you to death!"

Close to True Sorcery; Zalty was using an incomplete version of The Fifth Magic in my world, 'Magic Blue'. From what I learned back when I was still continuing my studies at the Clock Tower, The Fifth Magic was a stem of magic dealing with time travel, which would also be a domain within the Second Magic, the 'Kaleidoscope'. Zalty's magic was no doubt an inferior version compared to the one in my world, because if the rumours were true about 'Magic Blue' and its user, than I would've already died twice over.

Everything finally clicked when I realized how she was erasing my projection. Zalty's explanation of how he was doing it was a good guess, but it wasn't exactly reversing the time to a point before the weapons were actually created, after all, the weapons have always been there within my Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works. Weapons are produced within this alternate dimension in my mind and allow for numerous projections and reinforcing being prepared at a lower cost.

The way my abilities work and how Zalty is affecting my weapons can be explained by this simple analogy. Imagine my Reality Marble as a gun, and the weapons it creates as the bullets of that gun; when the hammer is cocked and the trigger is pulled, the bullet exits the boundaries of the gun and into the outside world, or reality. The drag or air resistance of the outside world can be thought of as the World's rejection of the interference to Nature, the more energy the bullet has been fired with, the more drag is exerted on it. Once again, it should be noted that my own world and Earth Land have differing strengths of air resistance. When the bullet loses all its energy, or velocity, it is destroyed. What Zalty is doing is not rewinding time to the point where the bullet has not been created yet, but instead reversing time to a stage where the bullet has no kinetic energy from being fired from the gun, resulting in the destruction of the bullet.

Now that I had a firm idea of Zalty's abilities, I could act more accordingly.

One orb accelerated towards me and I lightly side-stepped to avoid it, another followed suit and zoomed past my head as I slightly ducked. Against this number of brash flying objects, I needed to be light on my feet. Two orbs were quickly approaching from both side of my head and just when it was about to hit I spun around leaving the two orbs to tangle up and shatter on impact. Just when I had caught my footing, the remaining four orbs encircled me and tried doing what the last four orbs couldn't. If I could see myself now, it'd probably look similar to if I were dancing drunk as I constantly doubled over and moved my feet wildly.

Any orbs that were damaged instantly reformed themselves and were ready for round two. They propelled towards me all at once as I constantly projected my swords to fend off the blows if needed be.

Not only was I habituated to battles at these speeds, but the target of location the orbs were aimed at was quite predictable. He wasn't aiming for any of my limbs, but rather he only designated the path of the orbs to hit any vital areas that I purposely left open. It was a type of fighting I had developed over countless battles that many have referred to as suicidal almost. My combative abilities come not from an overwhelming skill or reaction against what my opponents threw at me, but instead it came from predicting my opponent's attacks. By purposely not defending areas that would be fatal, my opponent will be more than likely to attack that particular spot.

Even though eight of these bone-breaking orbs were gunning for me all at once, it wasn't able to disrupt my breathing, let alone stop me in place. Still, I had no idea who would tire first at this rate and I wasn't going to take my chances.

The directions of the orbs were becoming more erratic, but because of that, I could afford to take greater risks. One orb blasted towards my legs after Zalty realized this was not progressing anywhere as he tried reducing my movement. I leapt up into the air and turned my body so that it was parallel to the ground as I prepared my own counter-attack. _Trace _on.

While still mid-air, I twisted my body to gain momentum alongside the acceleration from gravity and released Kanshou from one of my hands. After rotating once more through the air, I let loose Bakuya from my other hand.

I roughly landed on the ground, kicking up piles of dust, as I watched the two weapons cut through the night air towards Zalty.

The ghastly echoes of the blades sawing through were a forewarning of mortality, and Zalty knew. I was certain I heard a gasp as he scrambled to initiate his magic.

He brought up his hand with Kanshou spinning mere inches away from it. And in the nick of time, Kanshou dissipated before it could show its sharpness. Bakuya was a different story.

Because of the spin at which I released the two swords, the angles were not alike, and because of this, Bakuya arced towards Zalty from a different direction.

Bakuya disappeared after Zalty readjusted his magic, but not before the sword had already left its mark. A large gash tore through the flesh and muscle of Zalty's triceps underneath his wardrobe. The resulting blood drowned his clothes in a dark red, but it wasn't as much as I had hoped.

Kanshou and Bakuya had a special attribute where they become like opposite poles of a magnet and attract one another. This allowed for interesting combinations and attacks, but there was one mistake I hadn't accounted for. When Kanshou was erased, Bakuya's trajectory slightly changed due to the loss of that attraction; if that had not happened, then right now, Zalty would've been one arm short.

"You bastard…" Zalty said and tightly gripped his bleeding arm his with other hand.

The ability to manipulate time was unquestionably one of the most potent and deadly forms of magic, but that doesn't mean its user would automatically be skilled as well. Zalty was still under the limits of being human; there were slight delays in processing the multiple stimuli in the environment, and if he could not react for that reason then he was still subject to injuries and loss.

I rushed towards Zalty before he could recover, if he was still bounded my human parameters, then all I would have to do is attack him from all directions.

"Huh?" Zalty flinched at my sudden movement and quickly regained himself.

Just like a minute ago, the eight orbs once again swirled around me and tried to halt my advance towards Zalty.

My prana swells as I trace a pair of swords.

I swung the swords with precision and repelled two of the orbs travelling at least triple the speed of sound. Before I could repel the other incoming orbs, the swords were quickly erased by the cautious Zalty. Without the swords to defend, I maneuvered my body around and the orbs narrowly grazed my left shoulder.

I wasn't going stop with just that.

An overflowing amount of images of weapons were laid out mentally within me. The structures are copied, the conception of its creation was realized, and its composition materials were recognized. The magic circuits of my body opened up to allow for multiple blueprints.

"Freeze out, continuous fire!"

As I said those words, a dozen swords crawled out of its other dimensional realm and into the sky. Before Zalty even realized it, they flew straight towards him.

"Shit!" Zalty quickly shifted his orbs to intercept my dazzling swords; two of the trailing swords exploded on contact, but the remaining ten were moments away from drawing blood.

He raised him arm to reverse my weapons' time, but there was no way he could break all of them within a split second.

Eight out of my ten flying swords dissolved into prana, these were coincidently the ones which were aiming to kill Zalty. The other two swords made it through, one slicing his calf muscles and the other jutting from the right shoulder of Zalty. It was impressive that Zalty's body could manage not subsiding with a sword sticking out of his shoulder.

"How the hell can anyone fight like this!?" Zalty reached for the sword and ripped it out of his shoulder. Blood sprayed out from where the sword was implanted and dyed the ground in a crimson red. His mask hid his expression, but the authority he felt that he had before was gone.

I hadn't stopped running, and now I was a few meters from Zalty as he finally remembered.

In a last pitch move of desperation, Zalty adopted a stance much like Gray did when he used his magic. The air around suddenly cooled down to sub-zero temperatures.

"Ice-Make: Rosen Krone!"

This island seemed to be a hotspot for ice mages. An explosion of ice shielded around Zalty and tried preventing me from getting closer. The ice was molded in the shape of delicate and fragile looking roses, but even the most beautiful roses have thorns. Razor sharp spikes swirled around the stems of the roses as its convoluted shape made its way towards me.

One of the most important skills of a mage was to expect the unexpected. This time was no exception either.

_Trace on_. I had rushed headlong to close the distance between me and Zalty for this moment. It was time for Zalty to experience the feeling of death that his objective would've caused for the lives of innocents.

A two-meter crimson spear akin to the color of Zalty's blood projected into my hand. It was one of the many weapons I had added to my collections from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon which is the treasury that contains the original treasures of the world.

The spear was capable of rendering magical enhancements and projections useless; making it known for its anti-magic properties. Its original owner Aengus had passed it down to his foster son, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, who was responsible for making the weapon the legend it is today. The weapon's name is Gae Dearg: Crimson Rose of Exorcism.

I held the spear in a two-handed fashion and struck through the ice as if it were paper. The Crimson Rose easily slashed through the roses of ice; the moment the tip of Gae Dearg connected with the ice it shattered like glass, nothing was left between me and Zalty.

"What the hell is happening!?" Zalty screamed out. He lifted his hand to activate his 'Arc of Time' on my weapon and nothing occurred as I slowly descended upon him.

As long as the tip of Gae Dearg was in contact with any source of prana, it would nullify its effect. Zalty's magic was not exempted from this fact.

I was a dozen meters away from Zalty and was inching closer by the second and suddenly… something clicked.

"…!"

I hastily turned my head in another direction approximately a mile away from where I was currently situated. My heart felt like it had dropped and my mind began racing; Lucy's presence was fading away at any accelerated rate.

Without even having time to think I reinforced my vision to its maximum limit and tore towards Lucy's direction with all the powers of my legs.

The sight of Lucy pinned to the ground by a giant bull-like human with Sherry off to the side came into my view. Lucy was on the verge of death.

The revelation that Lucy could die right in front of me was frightening… What kind of hero would I be if I couldn't even save the ones I had cared about?

I struck the crimson spear into the ground beside me and swiftly traced my bow. With my other free hand, I traced a sturdy sword that could withstand being fired at hypersonic speeds.

Carefully I took aim; the angle could not be mistaken and any mistake could be hazardous.

I drew back the bowstring with the sword in place and…

"Gah!" multiple objects, each with the force of a speeding car crashed against my shoulders. The distraction sent my sword flying way off course and into the distant.

"LUCY!"

I surprised myself by screaming her name out loud. Lucy should've been prepared to lose her life after coming along in this S-class quest, but now I was desperately putting my own life on the line to try to save her. Perhaps if I was calmer and could rationalize my course of actions, I could've already finished Zalty off and rescued Lucy… But one reoccurring thought continued flooding my mind and throwing reason out on the curb. _I don't want to lose her._

Ignoring the pain I leapt to the side while grabbing Gae Dearg with my injured arm and evaded the second string of attacks that I sensed from behind. The orbs raced past my arm holding Gae Dearg and slightly nicked the corner of my upper deltoid where I had been previously hit.

I grimaced and muffled a cry while bringing the arm holding the spear behind my back. With all my might that I could muster with my battered arm, I released the spear towards Zalty.

The spear screamed as it travelled the distance between me and Zalty within a second. It would be fortunate if it hit, but it'd be highly unlikely. With Zalty momentarily distracted, I instantly traced another suitable sword and nocked my bow.

Something was happening to the giant bull choking the life out of Lucy, but I had no time to think. Without giving Zalty any chances to catch me off guard again, I strung the bow and released the aerodynamic sword.

Suddenly, the unexpected happened. Not from Zalty, but from Lucy. Before my arrow struck the bull dead, Lucy had somehow managed to remove the bull herself. The fading magical energy that Lucy previous had suddenly seemed like a lie as the amount she regenerated in her body exploded. It was overwhelming how much magical potential she had contained within herself.

I saw the sword zooming past Lucy's laying body and disappeared into the horizon. Wiping off the sweat from my brow, I proceeded to turn my attention back towards Zalty. I was genuinely impressed with Lucy's abilities and no longer had any doubts whether she would be able to handle things herself.

It was now one on one again without any intrusions or disruptions. As expected, the spear I had hurled at Zalty was off mark; it wasn't possible to get an accurate toss with my shoulder in the state that it was in.

"You should've killed me while you had the chance," I told him sarcastically.

"You bastard… underestimating me like that… How dare you turn your eyes away from me in the middle of a fight!" Zalty scowled fiercely at me. He was no longer laughing or confidently smiling, instead he was constantly on edge. The wounds I had inflicted on him earlier were now blocked out by chunks of ice. Seeing that he hadn't used his timing manipulating magic instead, I'm guessing he wasn't able to use his abilities on humans.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll give you my fully undivided attention from here on out," I told him with a wry smile planted on my face. "Let's stop playing games shall we?"

"What!?"

After dropping my bow, I dashed towards him weaponless at a speed far beyond what I was running at before. The orbs of Zalty were no longer levitating, was he fatigued? Or had he given up on using those against me? Instead, Zalty rushed towards me himself and manipulated his energy into projecting his own two-handed long sword.

With both hands occupied, he wouldn't be able to use his 'Arc of Time'.

_Trace on_. By the time we clashed, I had successfully projected Kanshou and Bakuya and intercepted Zalty's sword.

Sparks flew as he slashed downwards diagonally to which I deterred by blocking with Kanshou. With my other free arm holding Bakuya, I stabbed forward aiming for his chest; he quickly spun to the side and scarcely avoided it.

The onslaught of my two blades unrelentingly chipped away at Zalty's as I swung the swords in a fury. It was not my style to actively go on the offensive, but against Zalty, it was clearly in my favor.

I twisted my body right and swung down with my right arm and it once again connected with Zalty's sword. With his sword preoccupied I struck sideways with my left arm below the positioning of his sword.

My second strike was deflected as well, after Zalty speedily spun his sword in a circular motion in time to intersect with my aim.

The deflection was enough to send my arm recoiling back; seeing this, Zalty jumped in for the counter.

I spun in the direction my arm was repulsed towards and evaded Zalty's upwards slash. With all his might, Zalty powered his sword back down to reach the top of my head.

I crossed both swords above my head and managed to block the attack; my legs tore into the ground after absorbing the impact of the heavy long sword.

With our swords connected, I heaved upwards using the force of my legs and arms, and pressed Zalty back. His footing was disordered and muddled after being pushed and I took full advantage of that.

Without needing to properly defend after realizing Zalty could not attack in his current dilemma, I hurdled towards Zalty with both arms over and behind my head to generate enough leverage. The blades shone magnificently as I swung both of them downwards; Zalty brought up his sword sideways to parry the attack.

Under the full weight of both Bakuya and Kanshou, Zalty's sword snapped in half with a loud clang. Still going with the momentum, I finished the attack. The blades cut neatly and vertically down Zalty's upper torso, but it was still quite shallow.

"This can't be happening!"

Before I could set up my next attack, Zalty brought up his arm and erased my projections.

We were both at a standstill and without any weapons as we engaged in a close-quarter combat.

He leapt at my head and went for the strangle hold around my neck with his legs; I swiftly ducked and countered with an uppercut aiming for his abdomen.

He was fast.

Zalty's body shifted to side and evaded my fist as he landed softly on the ground.

I continued and threw two consecutive jabs with my good arm towards Zalty's face and he skillfully maneuvered past it and tried throwing a few of his own.

The fists grazed the bottom of my chin as I spun around and tried hitting him with a spin kick. He easily dodged and skipped back a few steps.

Without stopping, I took a step forward and swung with my other leg at the side of his still masked face. He brought up his arms to deflect my kick, but what he didn't realize was that my reinforced shin could shatter baseball bats like twigs.

The kick hit the side of his arm which had previously sustained an injury and was covered with a thin layer of ice; the wound instantly reopened as blood once again streamed down his cloak and he was sent hurtling to the ground.

"Uaah!" Zalty screamed out as his body slid along the ground from the strength of my kick. "I can't lose, I can't lose, I can't lose, I can't lose!"

Zalty was becoming hysterical as he realized I wasn't someone he could match up against. But with great tenacity, he carried onwards.

"Ice-Make: Bloom!"

Several blocks of ice bloomed towards me in an exploding fashion and I bounded back to the area I had left my bow in.

Though the ice expanded towards me at a vicious rate, I was still able to easily outrun it while leaping backwards.

Eventually I landed beside my trusted bow and I reached down to grab it.

_It's time to end this._

"I am the bone of my sword," the aria echoed throughout the eerie night as I channeled my prana into a weapon which would become Zalty's greatest nightmare. The still air around me began to become restless.

_Trace on_.

While imitating the stance to nock a bow, I drew back the imaginary arrow. When I did, the Noble Phantasm I had hand-picked against Zalty materialized from my Unlimited Blade Works and into reality.

Zalty's magic accelerated towards me and was seconds away as I continued pouring prana into the formation of the weapon. Originally the weapon would have been too insufficient to be fired from a large bow like mines, but by using Reinforcement I was able to manipulate its shape into something more suitable to be fired.

My skin tingled from the sight of the dagger; it was not a weapon that I had many pleasing and fond memories with. Still, the functions and applications that could be applied to this weapon was not something to be ignored; all spells will be broken before it.

Its jagged blade and iridescent appearance would make it quite conspicuous even to the eyes of someone who had no knowledge of weapons. It had the combat efficiency of a regular dagger and even with that, it was quite attenuated because of its brittle and frail design. This dagger was not meant for killing people, rather it was meant for being able to dispel and destroy any sort of magic.

The reinforcement altered the dagger to have an elongated blade and a smaller guard for more aerodynamic purposes, but other than that, it was still the same ominous Noble Phastasm.

The sound of the bow's string being drawn resonated throughout the quiet atmosphere of the night. I calculated the angle I needed to adjust my bow due to the arrow's irregular shape and accounted in for the wind and hindrance that the jagged patterns would interfere with the trajectory. My eyes were systematically targeted onto my prey like a hawk as the ice closed in on me.

"Die, you bastard!" Zalty screamed out maniacally as I was now standing inches away from the ice.

And then, I called out the Noble Phantasm's name.

"Rule Breaker!"

A flurry of wind billowed from behind me as the force at which Rule Breaker left my bow would leave most tanks back in my world in shame. The uncanny scream emitted by the dagger soaring through the air was most befitting of its treacherous nature.

It passed through Zalty's ice as if it wasn't there in the first place; it may have looked that way, but the ice was nothing more than an afterimage.

Ruler Breaker instantly reduced the distance between it and its target to nothing. It was homing in towards Zalty at close to hypersonic Mach 10 speeds; how could anyone react in time considering I had fired the arrow at Zalty from a distance of a hundred meters.

Zalty could not react in time.

Before he even comprehended it, Rule Breaker had exploded from the impact into the side of his abdomen. Shards and fragments gorged through her open wound as the burst resulting from the dagger opened up the into the inner networks of her body. It was a gruesome sight, and if Rule Breaker hadn't been so delicate; her entirely lower body would have been separated.

The ice patching Zalty's wounds disintegrated and the blooming blocks of ice that had almost connected me and Zalty vanished.

It seems Zalty had something else up his sleeve as well; or should I say 'her'.

I realized it during our hand-to-hand combat, but Zalty's aim was certainly off, as if he wasn't use to his body. Now I understood the reason why.

She was concealing her identity with transformation magic, which would account for why her fists would reach just short of an easy hit to my face.

"Urgh…" I strongly clutched my shoulders as a sharp pain rang through my body. "There goes my arm, I guess…"

After getting repeatedly hit at the same spot of my shoulders, it goes without saying that the strain put on it from firing a Noble Phantasm was far too stressful for it. Either way, the fight was over and there was no way Zalty could still fight in her condition regardless if I could only use one arm.

Carefully, I walked over to the heaving Zalty. She was not the scraggly older man from before, but instead was a young beautiful woman with long dark-purple hair, brown eyes and pale skin. It should go without saying, but Zalty had quite a voluptuous figure which was quite accentuated by her new clothing. Instead of the previous tribal clothing, Zalty was now wearing a simple white and sleeveless kimono with a yellow obi that was stained in blood.

I halted my steps towards her and stood approximately a dozen meters from the bleeding figure. The other members of Fairy Tail were beginning to grace us with their presence. Looking over to the sidelines, it seems that Lucy, Happy and Natsu were safe from harm as they observed in a mix of worry and anticipation.

"W-w-who… the hell are y-you?" her voice came out in wretched coughs of blood.

"Shirou Emiya, Fairy Tail member," I told her without hesitation. "It looks like my comrades have finished with their fights. I'm going to have to finish up here too."

I took another step in her direction.

"No! No! I can't die here! There's no way I can die before completing my dream!" she cried out and tried backtracking in her steps to get away from me.

With her faulty movements and her injured leg, eventually she tripped over her own feet and fell onto her butt. Every step I took towards her, she would try crawling back and leaving a bloody trail; her bloodshot eyes never leaving me once. Her face was not hiding away the feelings of fear she was succumbing to as her lips quivered and her eyes were beginning to well with tears.

"No… G-get away from me…"

I sighed; anymore of this and people would start thinking I enjoyed bullying others. Even so, I still had to make up my mind about what I was going to do with Zalty. My previous heated anger was long cooled and now I had almost felt sorry for the poor thing shaking in front of me.

Footsteps could be heard making their entrance to the scene of the conclusion. It sounded sluggish, slow and belonged to the last remaining member of our crew.

"Ur..?" Gray was the last to show, but the first to reveal his voice. He looked on in disbelief at the young women retreating from my presence and began walking towards her. "This can't be… Ur is the ice sealing Deliora!"

_Did Zalty have an identical appearance to Gray's teach Ur? This couldn't be another transformation magic; considering Rule Breaker was still in effect._ I stared blankly at Gray as he staggered towards the frightened woman.

With the approach of another person, Zalty finally shifted her gaze away from me and towards Gray as I showed no intention of moving.

"Gray! It's you isn't it!?" her expression changed to one of longing. "I've wanted a chance to meet you for so long, please help me!"

"Who the hell are you, and why do you look so much like my teacher!?"

"I'm Ur's daughter, my real name is Ultear."

Things we getting more and more complicated. If she really was Ur's daughter, why would she want to destroy what remains of her?

"That's impossible… I heard you were dead!"

"No… I was hidden away from the eyes of society and even my mother… When I finally had the chance to meet her again, it was already too late!" Ultear covered her face with her hands and her body convulsed. She then removed her hands and looked at Gray with teary eyes that could've charmed the protective instincts of just about any man. "That's why I joined Lyon and his members, it was all for exacting revenge on the demon that took my mother's life! I didn't want to be your opponent, Gray. Rather, I had hoped you would have joined our side and taken on Deliora with us, but it seems I was mistaken about everything… The entire idea of melting away what's left of my mother was too painful! I tried stopping Lyon, but he wouldn't budge! My involvement in this was solely a misunderstanding; a mistake on my incompetency!"

She was putting all her emotions and everything she had in her story; a one last ditch to be spared.

"Please Gray! Don't let this man kill me, I'm your ally!"

Ultear seemed well aware of her power of beauty to captivate the minds of weak-willed males, whether consciously or subconsciously. It would almost be impossible to tell she was lying by just how much feeling and passion she was putting into every word, but still, it was disgusting how she was using her mother's name in order to have her life pardoned. It was just one predicament after another; what's next? Is Deliora going to revive?

"!"

The roar of a demon stretches across the small little island. It goes without saying that I was not surprised as I held back another sigh.

"W-what was that!" shrieked Lucy from the side.

"Maybe it was your tummy," answered Happy rubbing his stomach to emphasize his statement.

"I know you're kidding… but it's kind of annoying."

"It's Deliora, it woke up!" Natsu shouted out in worry.

Gray's face was becoming more and more disfigured by the second as his aggravation was rising to its borders.

"You're Ur's daughter; I can definitely see her in you… but even so…" Gray looked towards me. "Shirou, her story's a lie isn't it?"

Gray had managed to look through the lies of Ultear; it was an impressive feat for someone who was on the edge of losing consciousness. His movements were staggered to allow the large laceration on his side to close up, but his gaze still remained firm.

I looked at Gray without speaking and he clearly understood my answer.

"Wait… Gray, what do you mean…?" Ultear's once fearful expression returned.

"Your story about seeking revenge on Deliora is a lie," Gray said as he spun around and began walking away from Ultear.

"No, Gray! It's no-"

"Shirou, can you spare her life?"

And there it was; the words that I knew were coming the moment one of the Fairy Tail members would speak up. A gasp escaped Ultear's mouth as she shifted her gaze hesitantly to meet mines.

"And why should I do that?"

"Our mission does not include killing Ultear, and now that Deliora is up… we have bigger fish to fry," Gray said without a hint of fear. Previously, the name of the demon sent him into a panic, but he was now handling it quite well despite it actually being awake. Where was this confidence stemming from?

"You're too merciful for your own good; I just hope it never bites you back in the future…" I sauntered towards Ultear and stood beside her kneeling figure as I ignored her quiet yelp.

I stretched out my hand towards the broken dagger with its debris lodged into her abdomen and broke my connection with it; resulting in it being erased from reality. Ultear's grimace of pain slightly decreased after being freed from the agonizing razor-sharp substances piercing her wounds.

"Don't think for a second that you escaped death by being cunning and witty; you survived this encounter because I respect the compassion and forgiveness my guild mates exerted towards you. For your own good you better remember their kindness," I bluntly told her. It was puzzling how I was beginning to regain my youthful temperament of sparing the lives of my enemy. "Because if there's a next time where we meet again as adversaries; I will kill you."

Gray and I marched over to where Lucy, Natsu and Happy were waiting. It was great seeing everyone still alive and well, but before we left there was something I had to do.

"Lucy, here…" I took off my red cloak, and wrapped it around Lucy's naked shoulders.

She was for some unknown reason only wearing a bra and her pair of shorts, and as pleasing of a sight it was, it wasn't the best attire to be wearing when dealing with a fortress-sized demon.

"What?" I guess she hadn't even noticed it herself. She peered down at her black lingerie and her face flushed. "Don't look! Why didn't the two of you say anything!?"

She screamed at both Happy and Natsu who looked like they couldn't care less.

"I thought it was your new fashion sense in trying to impress Shirou," Natsu explained apathetically.

"Why you!" Lucy jumped over to Natsu and attempted to smack him on the head while the rest of us proceeded to the cave.

And with that, the five members of Fairy Tail raced towards the chamber of Deliora; leaving Ultear to wallow in her pain and thoughts.

[Scene Break]

Gray stepped into the flooded area of the room containing Deliora and dipped his hands into the water. This water was what was left of Gray's teacher, Ur, and now she could finally rest in peace.

The demon was free from the ice and stood towering over the rest of us. Lucy stood behind me with my red cloak properly done up and she held onto my arm as the rest of the team stood facing Deliora.

"Now that it's revived, we've got no choice but to take it down!" Natsu shouted as he clenched his teeth and fists.

"Hahah… It's impossible for you guys…" it was Ur's other student, Lyon limping into the cavern. "Let me… t-take it on. I'll surpass… Ur… Hahah…"

He could barely stand, let alone fight; his obsession over exceeding his teacher was insane.

"We finally… meet… Deliora!"

"!" Deliora let out another roar as if heeding his words.

Lucy held on tighter and hid behind my back; I turned back to face her and gave her a smile to show her it'd be alright.

Lyon continued moving forward to face the demon.

"I will… defeat you no-"

Gray suddenly slammed the side of his hand into the crevice in Lyon's neck and knocked him unconscious. He treated his old enemies as friends, it was both naïve and admirable.

"That's enough, Lyon," Gray said as he stepped forward in place of Lyon. "Leave it to me. I'll seal Deliora just like how Ur did!"

An outbreak of cold, magical energy vented from Gray as he stood with his knees bent and his arms cross in front of him. He was planning on using the same Iced Shell magic that his teacher had given her life in order to seal Deliora. Just like I had feared before when we finished listening to his story of his past.

Without even thinking about any alternative plans against Deliora, Gray was stepping forward to give his own life to seal away the monster.

'_Shirou. Your way of life is really distorted'_

'_Distorted?'_

'_That's right. It's wrong to live thinking that others are more important than you. Look, I'm not talking about the common opinion that we save others so we can be loves. With such hypocrisy aside, we have to put ourselves first.  
Well, there are people with others as their priority. But you're something 'special' that you can't put on the scale. It's like the scale itself. So why do you try to destroy that scale to save someone you don't even know?'_

In a world of hell, where everyone except you dies; how would it be possible to remain sane? Rin had discovered the same thing in me after witnessing me seemingly jumping to my end to save a complete stranger to me, and now Gray was trying to do the same thing. He was trying to save everyone in place of all those he could not save before from Deliora.

I would do the same thing, but right now, this form before us was not necessary to give our lives over. Before I could move to stop Gray, someone else did.

Natsu stood between Gray and Deliora.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted.

"I'll fight it."

"Natsu get out of the way!"

"I stopped you before when you told me you wanted to die… did my voice not reach you?"

"…"

"Go ahead and use that spell if you want… but there is no way I'm running away!"

Natsu charged towards Deliora and it reacted by raising its giant fist.

Rin was there back in my world to set me straight and insult me whenever I did something stupid, and here in Earth Land, the members of Fairy Tail were there for Gray whenever he attempted his suicidal selfless acts.

"Natsu!" Gray, Lucy and Happy had shouted as they watched the scene before them unfold.

"W-what?" Natsu suddenly faltered.

There was nothing that needed to be done, because in the next second, Deliora crumbled. Starting from its arm, it was like the monster was made up of stone, as cracks tore through its entire structure.

Everyone stood in awe as the once formidable looking demon was reduced to rubble.

"No way…" Lyon was already up again and staring at Deliora's final moments. "Deliora was already long dead…"

I had realized it the moment we entered the cave; Deliora had not an ounce of magical energy stored within its body. When I had first analyzed it sealed underneath the ice, I thought it was just a side-effect of the ice that blocked out magical energy detection, but in reality, it was because Deliora had none left.

"It seems your teacher Ur was as strong as you made her out to be," I told the two students as they gaped at the mess in front. "She not only sealed Deliora with her life energy, but subverted it even though she was in the form of ice."

"I'm no match… there's no way I could've surpassed Ur…" Lyon sobbed silently.

"Your teacher is amazing!" Natsu shouted.

"Gray…" Lucy said sympathetically.

And all at once, the tears came flowing out of Gray's eyes as they merged with the water leading into the ocean that Gray was standing in. No longer were they tears of regret or remorse over seeing his loved one, but they were tears of bliss and freedom.

"Thank you so much… Teacher…"

The Fairy Tail members smiled brightly as we walked on over to the healed Gray.

Ur truly did seal Gray's darkness and will forever be watching over her two pupils from the ocean.

[Scene Break]

We left Lyon and his companions alone despite my growing discord with the idea, but after what had occurred; Gray's trust in Lyon was justified. The two of them left on a friendly note, which included insulting one another and threatening to beat each other up, but of course that's what friends do in Earth Land.

"_You should join a guild,"_ was the last thing Gray told them before heading back in the direction of the village.

It should go without saying that Ultear was nowhere to be found.

Natsu and I had the job of lifting Gray by each arm to assist him in walking, and after a couple minutes, we arrived at the village's front gates.

"Yahoo! It's done, it's done!" Natsu shouted in excitement.

"Aye sir!" Happy joined in.

"I was worried in the beginning, but we were able to do it after all!" Lucy cheered.

"Hahah…" Both I and Gray laughed silently to the side as we all relished the accomplishment in harmony.

With our approach, the gate was slowly drawn up, welcoming us back.

"Does that mean we can go onto the second flo…" Lucy cut her sentence off as the gate revealed who was standing to welcome them.

It was the harbinger of pain, the jury of beatings and the image of a wild rose. Erza stood fiercely with her arms crossed over her breastplate as she looked at us as though she was judging whether we were to live or die.

"Eek!" A small frightened cry escaped Lucy's mouth as she covered it up.

Nervous sweat drops formed by the hundreds across everyone's faces and they slowly began stepping back to escape her incoming fury.

With my teammates looking like they were about to be sent to the guillotine, it was hard not to feel attuned to their worries as I began feeling uncomfortable under the pressure being exercised from the scarlet knight.

"Erza, glad you could join us," I spoke up reluctantly when no one else did.

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" she said out with a tone of authority.

"Ah… no… I mean… to take us back… right?" Lucy said as she peeped at Erza from behind my back.

"Screw this, I'm out of here!" Natsu who could no longer handle the stress tried taking off.

I say 'tried' because the next second, Natsu was flung to the ground by Erza.

"Oof!"

"Get ready, we're leaving back to Fairy Tail headquarters so you five can get your punishment," Erza held Natsu by his collar and proceeded to drag him along the ground. "And there's no way you're collecting the reward."

My reason for coming to this island was satisfied and surely Gray had no regrets about coming here either, but the rest were surely disappointed regarding the reward. It was seven million Jewels after all; that was enough to afford mansion in a good area of the city. There's nothing any of us could do as we resigned ourselves to our fates.

"Wait!"

A voice called out to us from within the village.

"You can't just desert us like this, you still haven't completed your promise to destroy the moon!" it was the village mayor running after us and shaking his staff.

"No way… but Deliora died," Lucy said out confusingly.

"Deliora died, but this phenomenon is not due to a curse or any superstitious reasoning," I explained.

The rest of the villagers inside began making their way to the entrance after hearing the commotion. They were all in their demonian forms since the moon was still high up in the sky.

"What do you mean?" asked one of the villagers.

"Mmm, I think it'll be easier if I show you first before I explain," I turned towards Erza who was still fuming with anger. "I can at least complete the mission so it doesn't shame the guild's name, right?"

"As long as you show moderation and decorum that's worthy of the name," Erza gave her consent and nodded her head.

_Trace on_. The metallic-looking bow I used against Ultear was once again held in my hand as I prepared to finish the mission.

"Shirou wait!" Lucy cried out. "Your shoulder is injured isn't it? You should let it heal instead of damaging it even further!"

_Was it that obvious?_ I thought I had hidden that fact quite well, but I suppose it didn't matter. As much as I appreciated Lucy's worry over my health, I was confident in my regenerative capabilities of my body. A broken bone or two was no big deal.

"Thank you, Lucy, but I'll be fine," I gave her a merry smirk and proceeded to trace a durable weapon. "I'm going to destroy the 'moon' now."

For a few seconds, no one made a sound, but then roars of cheers and applauses rang through the night sky.

"What!?" was the general reply from the members of Fairy Tail, except Erza who stared on passively as she waited.

My aim did not need to be precise; only powerful enough to reach a certain distance in the sky. I would destroy the façade of the purple moon.

I drew back on the bow string with the sword I had projected; pain sparked across my entire arm the more I pulled back. I reminded myself about the notion that pain was only temporary, and the thought that I would be free from it if I could just exert a little more force was my inspiration at this point.

Pushing back the excruciating throbbing, I maximized the stretch of the bow string.

"Hah!" I grunted out in relief as the sword I projected as an arrow was released from my bow.

The sword sailed into the general direction of the moon and broke apart the illusion. The skies tore apart in a similar fashion to how sheets of glass would break under enough pressure, and underneath the purple guise of the moon was the one we were all too familiar with.

[Scene Break]

"Really Shirou, you never cease to amaze me," Lucy let out an exasperated sigh as she hung over the railing of the ship.

There was never a purple moon in the first place; what was causing the 'curse' seemed to have been the exhaust fumes from the Moon Drip ritual that accumulated above the island and crystallized.

When we first entered the island, there was a sense of stuffiness in the atmosphere; all along this was a result of the crystallized dome hovering above the island.

This was not the biggest surprise for everyone though. After destroying what was responsible for the supposed 'curse' of the island, no one had converted to their human forms…

The answer was simple; they were all demons to begin with. This theory was generated in my mind after learning Lyon and his companions have been exposed to the same purple light for three years, yet they still remained perfectly human, except for maybe that dog-man Toby.

The side-effects of the Moon Drip were not morphing humans into demons, but instead it seemed to have caused both psychological and cognitive problems in their thought processes. They completely forgot that they were originally demons, and believed it to have been a curse.

Once everyone was settled, the mayor's son, Bobo who originally brought us to this island made a surprise entrance, which brought about a celebration for demons and us Fairy Tail members. The demons like Bobo who realized the side-effects of the purple moon were not killed, but rather they were exiled. All in all, it was a happy ending to our mission… at least for now before we arrived back in the guild. There were talks about a severe punishment elicited on members who break the rules of Fairy Tail. There was no point worrying about it now as I continued enjoying the serene night.

Before we had left the island, the villagers were quite resilient in having us accept the reward, to which Erza strictly declined. After some arguing and negotiations, we had decided that we would at least take the golden Zodiac Key for Lucy.

We were now currently headed back to the port city on a pirate ship that Erza had somehow confiscated for herself. I didn't bother looking into it as I could probably guess how Erza had acquired it.

Natsu was out cold the instant the ship moved, Erza was happily ordering the pirates on board around, Happy and Gray were taking a well-deserved nap, and I and Lucy were together on deck as we stared into the waters side by side.

"You're the amazing one, Lucy," I returned the compliment.

"There's no way… I was so scared of dying today, and I almost did…" Lucy said and suddenly recalled something from earlier tonight. "That was until I heard your voice."

"My voice?" I asked not understanding what she meant at first, but then I recalled that moment of desperation where passion took over rationality. "Oh… so you heard that."

"So it was real!" she said out giddily. Her soft cheeks took on a light pink hue as she looked at me with her illuminating hazel brown eyes. "Thank you, Shirou…"

"I didn't do anything; you were able to handle it yourself."

"That's not true, for some reason when I heard your voice; I suddenly felt the desire to become stronger. As happy as I was to hear the sound of your voice, I was also troubled by the fact that I needed to be protected," she never blinked once as she continued looking straight into my soul. "I want to be able to live without needing to constantly rely on others."

"There's nothing wrong with relying on others," I exclaimed.

"That's easy for you to say."

"It's true; after all, I'm relying on all of Fairy Tail and you Lucy. It's my heartfelt dream that I can find my reason to live here in this guild and I need your help for that."

Truth be told, I was probably relying more on Lucy more than she was relying on me. I wanted to be able to believe that there is a result where everybody would be happy, and Lucy represented this path for me. Her innocent and loving nature was infectious; it was the main reason keeping me on a steady path. If I hadn't met Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail, I feared the inevitable direction I would've eventually submitted to. I didn't tell her this though, was I just being shy?

"Shirou…" Lucy called out my name affectionately. She then smiled and waved a finger right in front of my face. "Then I never want to hear you complaining when you have to come to my rescue!"

"There's no reason to worry about that, after all, I'm beginning to get addicted to saving you, my princess," I pretended to act the role of a knight swearing his loyalty to the damsel in distress that he had just saved.

"Wh-what!?" Lucy's face flushed red as she brought up her hands against her cheeks and swayed around as she reveled in her embarrassment.

I chuckled out loud at the sight of Lucy's cute reaction; she was innocent indeed.

After realizing I had been laughing, Lucy broke free of her thoughts and weakly punched me in the arm.

We continued talking about miscellaneous topics such as hobbies and things we like and dislike, and soon enough an hour had already gone by. It was easy talking to Lucy, as she never ran out of interesting things to say. She talked about the foods she liked, which I mentally jotted down, the places she would like to go, the ridiculous kinds of people in Fairy Tail; I was starting to think that talking to Lucy could become one of my new enjoyments in life.

"Hey Shirou... umm…" Lucy hesitantly said.

"What is it?"

"About Ultear… a-are you into that type of g-girl!?" she suddenly screamed out in a panic. Luckily no one was around.

"You're much prettier, Lucy."

"… Saying that with your monotone voice makes it hard to believe," Lucy replied with a pout. Even though she said that, her pale face was still subtly fading to a noticeable rosy shade.

"My apologies, I'm not used to giving out compliments," I cynically said.

"Idiot…" Lucy continued puffing out her cheeks in irritation, but thankfully stopped after calming down and went on to ask her real question. "Why did you let Ultear live then?"

"What do you mean?" I understood what she meant, but I wanted to know whether she understood the gravity of her question.

"It was like you said before back when you had tried killing Erigor… To let a criminal live means running the risk of having unprecedented consequences such as further deaths. It's the same thing here with Ultear; she was planning something atrocious, but you still let her free, why was that?"

I smiled; it was something I rarely did back in my own world when I was alone, but here with Lucy it was becoming a normal occurrence. Was it a good or bad that I was becoming infested by their ideology that resembles the one I tried upholding in the past? I'll never know, but one thing was certain, I was enjoying it.

Lucy was remarkably someone who seemed to be able to keep up and understand my intentions; even now she found a kink in my actions. If it was me from when I first entered Earth Land, I wouldn't have wavered for a second, and Ultear would've been lying dead back on Galuna Island. I was changing and Lucy knew. For someone I had just met not long ago, her presence was making an irreplaceable mark in my heart.

"I don't know why, but I believed in the words of my comrade," I told her without a hint of deceit in my eyes. "I really don't know."

"You're a big idiot, did you know that Shirou?"

Lucy rested the side of her head against my shoulder as we continued staring into the vast waters before us. Her golden blonde hair dangled across her dazzling face as she snuggled up against my arm to find a comfortable place. The warmth of our connected bodies interacted and I felt a steady glow in my heart.

And underneath her locks of hair was the precious smile I swore to protect as it outshone even the moon with its brightness.

**Chapter 8 End**

Author Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the fight between Shirou and Ultear, it was longer than expected because of all the little bits and pieces of information I threw in here and there for it to flow properly.

So I threw in an analogy rather than explaining it all for why Ultear could affect Shirou's weapons. Here's without the analogy.  
The difference between Erza's and Shirou's magic is this:  
Erza's weapons and armors are the original crafted pieces that she buys and finds from who knows where, which she then throws into her other dimensional place.  
Shirou's weapons are the blueprints which his UBW follows and creates to be stored in his Reality Marble. The weapons of his do not exist in reality, but only in his own, so when he brings them out into reality; he needs to project them with his prana. Ultear is reversing time to the point before Shirou had inserted his prana into the weapons, which would have nature destroying them immediately. As one of the reviewers mentioned, it's similar to having the link between Shirou and the weapon broken.  
If Shirou were to bring out his UBW into reality, then there would be no way for Ultear to break his projections, after all, UBW does not work on the basis of time.  
Of course, if everything I mentioned is completely wrong and bull, please don't hesitate to tell me hahah. I'm pretty lenient when it comes to changes in information regarding Nasuverse lore.

Regarding the Shirou vs Ultear; because Shirou used a particular weapon on Ultear, there will be certain changes to the plot which some of you may guess, but that won't come till after the next arc!

Phantom Lord arc coming up; this is the arc which gave me the idea of throwing Shirou into Earth Land, so expect better quality and maybe(?) quantity.

Reviewer Comments:

I'll start adding the name of the reviewer to which I'm replying to; I hadn't before because I was simply too lazy lol. Sorry if I don't reply to yours, it most likely has to do with whether answering them will spoil, but know that I read them!

Mzr90: Hahah, Gajeel and Jose are in for it good. I guess I'll test around with the scene switches a bit more.

Tragicmat1: I could've done all the fights like how I wrote Natsu's and just do a quick summary, but I think that's taking away a lot from the other characters. I don't want Shirou to completely outshine everyone else, but I get your point.

DemonRaily: That true, it doesn't necessarily have to be a different version of Shirou to make it interesting. After all the Anima magic in Edolas seems random in whom it chooses almost; it still a long ways off before the Edolas arc, so I'll put something together by then!

Kami no Kage: At this point, Shirou's probably going into cooking withdrawal. I got to get him into a kitchen ASAP.

N0mster: No worries, in terms of power levels, I believe Shirou would definitely be placed somewhere in the middle to top portion of the wizard saints category. No power ups for villains will be needed, since they all have their unique skillsets which Shirou will need to overcome.

Samuez: At least something entertains you hahah.

JenGon: That's true! When Shirou has a girl in his eye, he's completely devoted to the point where it may even bypass his ideals; Sakura for instance. Hahah, so he's passed the point of no return from all those tantric rituals, Shirou's becoming more and more distorted.

Laark: Some girls will be attracted some won't, such is the way of life. The 4th verse thing was what one of the reviewers said, which I thought was pretty funny. Hopefully the building of Shirou's relationship with others seems believable rather than forced; I'd like to see your comments regarding that in the future! Thanks!

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoyed it.

If you see any mistakes, problems with the lore, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	10. Hero's Tail: Life in Fairy Tail

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 9**

[STORY START]

The golden sphere ascended into the firmament this morning decorated with few puffy clouds and with an astonishing bright blue color. It was just a little after sunrise and drowsiness was invading my consciousness as we traveled down the usual riverbank leading to the Fairy Tail guild.

I openly yawned as I continued walking along while watching the streams of sunlight dance upon the waves that embarked on a mission throughout Magnolia City. All I wanted to do at this point was collapse into my fluffy bed back in my new maisonette, but it seems rules were rules and punishments would have to be dealt with first.

"Hmph! You won't be yawning much longer after Master deals with the lot of you," Erza said sadistically as she led the rest of us towards the guild.

Everyone flinched at the mere perception of the penalty Master Makarov was going to exact on us for disobeying guild rules. How severe could it actually be? Would there be a huge fine? Perhaps your earnings for the next month will be distributed towards the guild? Maybe you would have to walk around the city naked; even I was starting to get worried at the potential prospect of it.

"Erza, if you tell Makarov that I wasn't involved; I'll bake you cakes every day for the rest of this month," I tried negotiating with her. Knowing Erza, who was a hard-headed individual of regulations and rules, this would probably make the situation even worse, but it was worth a shot.

"…" No reply.

"You're seriously contemplating it aren't you, Erza!?" Gray shouted from behind after her silent answer.

"Shut up!" Erza swiftly retorted against Gray's accusation as she turned around and drew her sword towards Gray's neck. "Just because there's twenty days left in the month, meaning I would be receiving twenty cakes, and that there will be some days where I'll be too busy partaking on jobs and quests which would mean there would be some days where I could enjoy two or even three cakes all at once, does not mean I'm actually considering it!"

"Ehh… you really thought it out didn't you," Lucy said incredulously.

"Hmph!" Erza withdrew her sword and continued with her pace as she crossed her arms in front of her.

It looks like negotiations have failed, but even so she would constantly look back pretending to look at the scenery, or just acting like she was stretching her neck, but it was obvious that she was looking at me from the corner of her eyes.

I sighed; the steel-minded knight had such a weakness! At least now I knew she was not as cold-blooded as everyone had made her out to be; she had her charming features as well, even if it meant exploiting others in the process.

"I won't promise that I'll make you a cake every day, but once in a while should be alright," I tossed in the towel and tried remedying Erza's increasing aggravation.

"Your kindness is unneeded, Shirou!" Erza replied almost unnervingly. "B-but I'll gladly accept!"

It seems Erza was shy at expressing herself at times, but her actions hid no lies. Her solider-like strides suddenly converted to a merry skip as her previous grave outlook made a one-eighty degree turn. It was almost daunting watching the knight prance around like that, but I suppose it was cute as well. She turned around and flashed one of her famous prince-smiles.

"Thank you, Shirou."

"Are you kidding me…?" Gray smacked his forehead with his palm.

"I wonder what the punishment will be…" Natsu was completely out of the zone, and was unaware of anything going on around him.

To my side, Lucy was pouting her face and squinting her eyes as she seemed to refuse to look at me. I sustained my gaze towards Lucy hoping to gain her attention, but not once did she turn to face me as she continued puffing out her cheeks irritably.

_Did I have something on my face?_ I quickly rubbed my face with both hands and tried again but to no avail.

Giving up, I let out another yawn and walked the rest of the way to Fairy Tail.

After a few minutes we arrived and Erza barged through the doors as we depressingly followed behind. All eyes were on us; murmuring about what our punishment would be and how pitiful we all were. This was ridiculing enough for me.

"Even Shirou…?" Levy gasped in disbelief.

It looks like no one was expecting me to tag along with the other's antics.

Everyone was gathering around the bar where Erza was leading us to meet with Makarov; we all hung our heads as we moped under the eyes of our guild mates.

Makarov was seated on top of the counter while enjoying a morning jug of beer; he then turned his attention towards us and made eye contact.

I was getting nervous and so was everyone else as they waited with bated breaths.

"Yo! Welcome back."

Everyone crashed to the floor after seeing Makarov's carefree attitude towards the rule breakers.

"Master! Have you forgotten what Natsu's team have just done!?" Erza got back up to regain her composure as she lectured Makarov.

"Ooooh, right you are," the mood suddenly turned for the worse. A dark aura was emitting from Makarov, and we realized he was now being serious. "You five have broken the rules and gone on an S-class quest without permission… Punishments will be required."

The five of us gulped.

"Your punishments will be…" Makarov's eyes suddenly opened wide as he gave our retribution. "Cooking and cleaning duties for the next week!"

"NOOOO!" Natsu pounded his fists upon the wooden planks on the floor as tears gushed from his eyes.

"It's too cruel…" Gray fell to the floor and quietly wept.

"…" not a single reply had come out of Happy's mouth as he had already fainted on spot.

"Eh!? You want us to be caretakers of a place like this!?" Lucy shouted out in surprise at the notion of being responsible for the guild where fights break out as much as people talk.

Despite everyone's outlook towards the punishment were nothing but pure forms of negativity and agony; I was the odd one out.

"Heh… Hahah…" I quietly laughed to myself as my shoulders began to shake repeatedly. I could barely contain myself from the words that just came out of Makarov. "Hahah…"

My laugh was escaping my throat even if I tried supressing it with all my will; I had to bring my hand up to block my mouth in order to prevent breaking out into a devilish laugh.

"Poor Shirou…" Jet said from within the crowd. "He's becoming mentally unstable."

"Yeah… a guy like him doesn't deserve this," Droy exclaimed.

"What do you say team? Should Shadow Gear help them out?" Levy said trying to break the depressing mood.

The three of them quickly agreed as they continued watching the mix of emotions in front of them. Four members were shrouded by misery while the remaining one probably looked like he completely lost it.

I rolled up the sleeve of my cloak and began making my way to my first destination. Whatever fatigue or drowsiness I had before could wait; duty calls.

[Scene Break]

The roar of the fire, the sizzle from the pan, and the sounds of active hands working on bringing it altogether; was there anything capable of achieving a greater rush of emotions streaming from me right now? I highly doubted it; there was almost no greater sense of enjoyment than pouring your heart out into preparing a meal. There was a satisfaction in noticing the hanging mouths of those who waited, and that satisfaction would only increase here on out.

"So what do you suggest we do about this?" Mirajane had finished washing all the vegetables in a very efficient manner.

"Hmm…" There were some unknown ingredients at hand, but after asking Mirajane about the basic sense of taste that each of these had attributed too, I could surely work something out. "How about you proceed to…"

I told Mirajane the plans for the ingredients and the dishes I was preparing to serve for the members of Fairy Tail. She listened intently and even gave her own advices along the way which I heeded carefully, but for the most part, everything was still on mark for what I originally had planned.

"Shirou, I've realized you were into cooking, but I never would've thought you had these abilities up your sleeve!" Mirajane stated as she continued helping me in the kitchen after I had charged in.

This time, with the excuse of the punishment I was able to gain access to the kitchen without Mirajane kicking me out.

"I've been cooking for myself for as long as I can remember, cooking just eventually became something I couldn't live without," I replied with a childish grin. "What about you, Mirajane? Your skills aren't something to be scoffed at either, are you perhaps a chef on the side?"

Beside me, Mirajane was chopping up vegetables at an unfathomable rate. The moment any unfortunate vegetable was held in her hand, the next second it would be finely diced to pieces. It touched my heart to see someone so adept to this lifestyle!

She was currently wearing a frilly pink apron, and in contrast, I was wearing a plain white one.

"Oh no! I just cook for the guild whenever I have time; I'm nothing more than the occasional helper of the guild!"

Hardly believable seeing how well she wielded a knife as if it were an extension of her arm.

"Just someone who comes to help? Do you not partake in the jobs and quests?"

She looked hesitant to answer for a brief second, but quickly reverted back to the usual cheerful demeanor.

"No, I can't handle missions like the rest of you," she smiled as she told me that, but something was hidden.

It interested me to learn about each and every single member of Fairy Tail; they all had a past that led them to where they are today, and these stories should be as inspirational as they were motivating. It's been said many times that it's rude to pry, but if everyone here were as close as family as they say, then what would be the point of keeping secrets?

I could already tell at this point that Mirajane had a deep secret to hide; the more I could learn to understand her; the more we can begin to trust one another, especially when we fight alongside.

"Mirajane, may I see your hand for a moment?"

She held out her hand as she stared at me confusingly.

I reached out and held it with my own so I could accurately analyze it. She flinched as I held her hand, but she allowed me to continue my inspection. As expected, I found the answers to my questions.

"Your hands betray what you tell me; there's numerous scars and callouses that were most likely formed from the use of a knife or other sharp weapon, as well as from strenuous amounts of combat or hard labor. The reformation of the hardened skin around these areas show you been exposed to these situations numerous amounts of time. You're hardly just a simple caretaker."

She became wide-eyed for an instant as she opened her mouth with a slight twinge, but converted her expression instantly to its former gleeful look. I suppose this means I was still a long ways off from gaining her trust, but it was still a start, whenever she would be willing to talk, I'd happily listen.

"Hmm? Perhaps you lack in the department of delicacy, Shirou. That's not something you're supposed to say to a lady!" Mirajane teased me as she withdrew her hands away, but she did not deny it. "Maybe one day there'll be a time when I show you the answer."

I smirked at her innocent way of answering my prying questions. There was no doubt Mirajane was strong; from what I could sense, her magical powers exceeded most members of the guild and matched up quite close to what Erza possessed. She had to have a serious reason to be hiding this power.

"Is that so?" I asked understandably. "Can I ask one more thing before we continue cooking?"

"What is it, Shirou?"

"Can you beat Erza in a fight?"

Mirajane brought her hands behind her back and slightly bent forward so she looked up at me with her glittering eyes. With this motion, you could clearly see her cleavage from her ample breasts; just another one of her features which most likely led to her having a large fan-base. It was not hard to prevent myself from staring, because after all, her noble and lady-like face attracted just as much attention.

Childishly, she brought her left index finger to the tips of her pink lips.

"That's a secret!"

There was no way I would be able to dive deeper into Mirajane's secrets after that. I lifted both my arms up into the air and shrugged in a defeated manner.

"As you wish."

She returned to a normal position and returned a smile.

"Now that you've asked all you have wanted," that wasn't quite the case, but oh well. "It's my turn."

"I'll answer what I can."

"Great!" her smile suddenly became more cheerful. "Then I was wondering, Shirou. After your punishment is over, would you still like to help me cook from time to time?"

My heart felt like dancing as Mirajane offered me a position in the kitchen. It was more of a help to me than it probably was to Mirajane. She suddenly looked like a celestial being before me as her figure illuminated while she held onto a knife and a celery stick; the perfect image of an angel.

The thought of being able to cook for a room full of people sent shivers of excitement down my spine, and once again I had to subdue the urge of a gigantic grin forming on my face.

"Gladly," I coolly said to show Mirajane that I was not desperately hoping that she would ask that, which was completely false. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if I threw in a compliment. "It'd be my pleasure to see someone as beautiful as you from time to time."

"My, oh my, aren't you the smooth talker! Thank you, Shirou! I'll be seeing you a lot from now on."

*CRASH*

Suddenly nearby the kitchen, Lucy who had been sweeping the floors collided into one of the tables.

"Lucy! Are you alright?" I asked from within the kitchen after witnessing her clumsy tumble.

"Eheh... Yeah..." Lucy managed to get back up and went back to sweeping with her back turned towards me.

[Scene Break]

We were approximately half way through cooking, and with the help of Levy, Jet and Droy, we were moving along at a very fast pace. At this rate, we'd be able to finish preparations to feed the entire guild early.

"Shirou, you seem to be enjoying this punishment..." questioned Droy as he continued peeling potatoes.

"We aren't perhaps slowing you down are we?" Jet asked worriedly.

It was true that they seemed to have no experience with cooking; I seemed to be assisting them more than I had spent on my own cooking, but alas, it was also another form of entertainment to teach others the fulfillment of cooking.

"Don't worry, I enjoy your presences; just having you here to help makes it much more fun," I told them truthfully.

I was currently holding a frying pan and flipping the contents repeatedly for an even searing of the meat and vegetables as the aroma floating out made its way into my nostrils. Strangely enough, the only sound in the kitchen was the clatter from the frying of foods.

I turned back towards the other party of three and warily checked up on them. Each of them had streams of tears flowing down their watery eyes as they stared affectionately at me.

"Shirou...! We'll always be here to help you!" Team Shadow Gear told me as they sniffled back the tears.

"Hahah… Shedding tears over something I said… It can't mean that much to you three, can it?"

"You're wrong, Shirou!" Droy quickly spouted. "You're one of the greatest guys I've ever come to know!"

"Even though we haven't met that long ago, there's just this feeling that we get from you," Jet ambiguously explained.

It was odd; I haven't mentioned anything about who I was, or where I came from, yet it seemed like almost everyone in Fairy Tail were already acting overly kind to me. I displayed destructive powers that could easily decimate and cripple most mages that I have met so far and I haven't even acted overly friendly towards anyone in particular, except for a select few.

Despite all this… how were Levy, Jet and Droy so willingly able to trust without knowing anything about me?

"We're friends… Aren't we Shirou?" Levy asked shyly.

"Friends_?_" I raised an eyebrow.

It was a term I had associated with very few individuals back in my world. To be honest, after losing contact with the many faces of my juvenile days, the only person I could truly call my friend would be Rin.

"Ahh! I'm sorry for calling us friends without concern about your own feelings!" Levy swiftly brought up her hands and waved them nervously in front of them as if to put off the fire she thought she had ignited. "It's just that… I think you're someone we can easily get along with!"

The three of them seemed to slightly retreat after seeing my disordered expression, but even so, my body warmed after hearing Levy's feelings.

"There's nothing to worry about," I said while changing my expression to a softer one. "It's just that it's been a while since anyone's called me their friend. It's a little unsettling and exciting to hear those words after so long."

I smiled and rubbed the back of my head with my free hand.

"If it's alright with you guys, then I'd like to consider us friends as well," I happily said.

The three of them looked beyond pleased as they motioned towards me in a welcoming fashion.

"I knew it! You were meant to be with us, Shirou!" Jet shouted out in bliss.

"It was definitely destiny that we met each other back then," Droy stuck out his arm and gave me a thumbs-up.

"Shirou, I heard from the others that you're not on anyone's team yet, right?" Levy asked me as she joined in with the others in their moment of pleasure.

"No, I haven't officially joined a team or anything," I was starting to feel a little elated as well as I shook my head in response to her question.

"Then how would you like to join Team Shadow Gear!"

The three of them were relentless today in harassing me with their pleading eyes and praying postures as they simultaneous stared into my own eyes. But would there be any detriments to joining? I didn't think so.

"I'd love to," I gave into their pressure. "But I'll have to warn you, I am going to go off on my own at times."

Only the first few words I spoke actually made it into their ear; the rest escaped through the other ear.

"Yes!"

"Yeah!"

"Yay!"

Even though we were still practically cooking, the three of them pranced about while trying to maintain their duties.

"With Shirou in our team, we'll quickly rise to the top of Fairy Tail!" Jet shouted while pumping his fist in the air repeatedly.

"Our name will be spread all throughout Fiore!" Droy looked dazed as he thought about the ridiculous fortunes to come.

"Shirou actually joined our team... Heheh..." Levy said in a dreamy manner.

She walked back towards the counter and picked up a knife to resume her work, but of course she still looked completely out of it.

Levy grabbed one of the ingredients and began slicing and dicing vigorously. It didn't even appear to look like she had any idea what she was doing.

"Levy, it's great that you're happy about me joining, but I'd be careful with that knif-"

Right on cue, her knife slipped.

"Ah!" the sudden pain brought Levy back to her senses as she tightly gripped her thumb which was now bleeding.

Hastily I dropped what I was doing, and ran over.

"Levy, let me see," without waiting for her consent, I reached out and held her trembling hand.

Fortunately, it was a minor cut that hadn't reached the bone.

I continued holding her hand and directed her towards the sink. To reduce the amounts of inflammation that would proceed to form, I took her thumb and ran it over a tap of cold water.

She twitched at the sudden sensation of cold water over her fresh wound, but she calmed down after I grasped her hand firmly.

After a few seconds I turned off the running water and dried her hand which was still bleeding. Without any sort of first-aid kit within the proximity of where I was standing, I tore the edge of my apron off and provided a make-shift bandage.

I wrapped the sheet of fabric multiple times over the abrasion until I was satisfied it would hold.

"There we go," I released Levy's hand to which she quickly brought to her chest and grasped it with her other hand.

"Ahh... Thank you, Shirou," Levy quietly said.

Her face was blatantly red and her eyes were becoming more dazzling by the second as she stared up at me intently. Was Levy perhaps weak to the sight of blood?

"Don't worry, it pleases me to help you out like this," I told her gently hoping to calm her down.

Strangely enough, the opposite effect occurred as Levy's cheek became dyed in a deeper red and even steam had appeared to be fuming out of the top of her head.

"Wa-wa-wa-wa," Levy spewed out incoherent words; I had a feeling I should perhaps leave her alone for a second.

*CRACK*

From the behind me, the sound of wood could be heard snapping violently.

I turned around and there was Lucy, crushing the shaft of a broom into pieces with just her fist. Her entire figure was enshrouded in some sort of darkness.

"Lucy... You're scaring me..." Happy was off to the side cowering from the evil aura Lucy was emitting.

"Lucy...? Is everything alright?" I asked her once again.

The moment I spoke, the aura dissipated and Lucy regained her normal appearance.

"Nothing's wrong," Lucy spoke out irritably as she spun away from me. "Go back to what you were doing."

Malice was laced in with her words, and a sudden dread was overwhelming my body. For some reason, I was feeling disturbed by Lucy's sudden act.

I shook my head as I turned my attention back towards the kitchen. Levy was still completely out of it, and when I looked at Jet and Droy; they had the exact same darkness that Lucy previously had enveloping the two of them.

[Scene Break]

The clanging of utensils breaks through the usual sounds that could be heard within the confines of Fairy Tail. There were no arguments, fights or even drunken banters; only the sounds of cutlery banging against plates. Why the sudden change? Well, at this moment, no one had any other priority other than stuffing the food in front of them into their mouths.

I was sitting at a table with both of Team Natsu and Team Shadow Gear as I watched gleefully at the members of Fairy Tail devouring the hearty meal that I and the others had prepared. Each spoonful seemed like a soft touch of heaven as they savoured the taste that melted into their taste buds; their faces were drooping away in pleasure with every bite.

Looking at the scene before me reassures me that for the past seven years after the Holy Grail War, it was not a bad idea to further improve my cooking abilities. Sure, for every second I spent researching new recipes and new techniques was a second lost for training, but taking the expressions that these people have glued on their faces shows me that good food is another form of saving people as well.

"Shirooo… Ish thar anyfing you can't dooo?" Gray asked me with a mouth full of food.

"There's a lot, it's just cooking's my forte," I replied unmoved by Gray's bad etiquette.

"Well you know what? For whatever you lack in, your cooking surely makes up for it," said Gray as he waved a fork towards me in a lecturing manner.

"Much obliged, but flattery isn't going to get you thirds," I left no room for argument, after all, in only a few hours, there was no way we'd be able to accommodate so many people if they wanted more than what was presented to them.

"Damn it."

Gray was once again immersed into his food after making small chit-chat with me. Lucy was sitting to my side, but she had remained quiet since the start of the meal. She had appeared depressed compared to her original gleeful outlook on life; there was definitely something up, but she did not want to voice it as she shook it off whenever I asked.

"Lucy…" Levy leaned in and whispered into Lucy's ear as I quickly reinforced my hearing to listen in. "Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

"Hah…" Lucy replied and moped. "I'm getting upset over nothing; it's obvious he'd be interested in someone like you."

"It-it-it-it's not like that!" Levy suddenly screamed out and stood up from her seat as she blushed furiously.

The whole table stared confusingly at her as she promptly sat back down and stared into her food to try and calm herself. For some reason, she reminded me of a defenseless little bunny who was the target of a bunch of predators; namely Jet and Droy.

Lucy once again sighed and looked towards Levy in sympathy.

"It's going to be a battlefield."

[Scene Break]

"Shirou! That was a wonderful meal, but now that you're finished your duties for today, it's my turn to take your time," Erza approached me right after dinner.

Without giving me time to reply, she suddenly reached out and attempted to grab a fist full of my cloak. Instinctively, I restricted her wrists before it connected with my attire.

"What do you need?" I asked kindly.

"Hmph! I expected no less from you," Erza retracted her hand and instead of reaching out, she pointed her index finger towards my face. "Shirou Emiya, I challenge you to a duel!"

Her voice echoed through the now silent hall of the guild. Everyone's attention was directed at the two of us as if the rest of the room was drowned in darkness while we had a spotlight shining down on us.

Wait, that wasn't right.

"Happy, quit that!" up on the roof of the building, Happy had cut off power to the rest of the lights powered by lacrima, and beamed down a new one on us.

"Aye Sir!"

The room was alighted once again, but eyes were still observing Erza and me in eagerness.

I had no reason to disagree; actually, more like this was something I was eventually going to ask of Erza. It wasn't in my wildest dreams that I would be allowed such a chance to duel with a master swordsman so soon. Being new and all, I had pushed back my desires in order to blend in more, but forget that now!

"I accept," I gave Erza a wry smile as I prepared my mind. "When do we start?"

[Scene Break]

"Place your bets here! Last call for bets!" strangely enough, it was Cana who had taken time off drinking beer who was currently running the little gambling ring.

Not surprisingly, the odds had seemed to be in favor of Erza rather than the miniscule amounts of votes towards me. Most votes that were tallied for me were from individuals I have become acquainted with so far in my journeys; it made me quite complacent knowing that.

"This is quite a crowd for a simple duel between us, don't you think?" I regarded towards Erza in a friendly manner.

"Of course; everyone wants to see for themselves just what Shirou Emiya is capable of," Erza replied casually. "It'd be unfortunate if you were to be completely overwhelmed in this match though."

"Your sentiments won't be needed, after all…" I continued the little trash talking before the actual fight; there's nothing like spicing up the main event. "You should be worrying about not embarrassing yourself in front of all your fans."

"Is that right? I guess I won't be holding back in that case," she flashed a smirk as she returned my gesture.

We stood within a rink whose borders were created out of the spectators that encircled us to enjoy the show we were about to present to them. The location was slightly out of town in an open area so we would be able to fight to our full content. At least fifty people made up of Fairy Tail members and random onlookers stood eagerly waiting to watch as Erza and I stared down one another from a distance of ten meters.

Erza's amour and body glowed brilliantly and began taking a new form. The armor's shape disintegrated and her naked body was enveloped in a flash of light. It happened in a span of a second, and when it ended, Erza was donning a new complete set of armor, weapons and even a new hairstyle. Her long scarlet hair seemed to become wilder and disorientated which complimented her new attire that looked deadly in nature.

Instead of a sword she wielded a mace shaped and held much like a sword which completely contrasted her regular sword. If her normal sword was meant was used as an all-purpose type of sword in strength, agility and utility, then her mace sacrificed everything for pure strength. Just by looking at it I could grasp its nature; it was beyond heavy and must've have been reinforced multiple times to reach such a high durability. The mace was massive and its edge was lined with lethal looking spikes.

Erza's armor was dark putrid black that seemed to absorb all surrounding light. It had a sinister sheen as well as multiple spikes covering the pauldrons and gauntlets of the armor. It almost seemed like an embodiment of a demon; not only that but it appeared to have magical enhancements built into it.

"Purgatory Armor right off the start?!" the crowd became bewildered at Erza's sudden wardrobe change.

"That's Erza strongest armor that grants her a boost in power!" Levy shouted out in horror. "Shirou, be careful not to get hit by it!"

I nodded my head in apprehension towards Levy and readied my stance. Prana surged within me, materializing the object of my desire.

_Trace on._

My trusted twin blades, Kanshou and Bakuya, were grasped firmly in my hands standing off against Erza's demonic weapon.

"Who do you think will win Lucy?" Natsu asked Lucy in excitement.

"I really don't know, it is way too hard to say!" Lucy shook her head indecisively.

"Is that so? I would've thought that you'd want Shirou to win," Natsu replied confused.

"Ehhh... Well..." Lucy timidly fidgeted both her index fingers together as she didn't know how to properly respond to Natsu's implication. "Erza's really strong though..."

It probably wasn't that Lucy couldn't make up her mind on who was more likely to win a fight; instead she didn't want to favor either one of her companions thinking that it'd depress whom she didn't vote on.

Just another tidbit of Lucy's kindness.

"I for one am rooting for Shirou!" Natsu said out proudly. "Go Shirou! Show the S-class we're no weaker than they are!"

Considering just a few days ago that Natsu got his butt handed to him, perhaps he still holds a little grudge towards Erza.

"Shirou, win this for Shadow Gear!" Droy shouted out.

"Shirou! Shirou! Shirou!" Jet tried rallying the crowd in support.

"I believe in you Shirou!" Levy held a banner of words made out of magic with the words 'Shirou! Fighting!'

It had always been others doubting my abilities to fight; discouraging the ideas of me intervening in battles, or worrying about my weaknesses back in my world. So now when I hear the chanting of the crowd calling my name in encouragement, it really struck a heart string of mine's.

If I could have, tears of joy would decorate my face, but after a hardened life of steeling my mind; it'd be improbable to feel the moisture of tears on my cheeks. Still I appreciated those who believed in me, and surely I wouldn't let them down; not that I had any intentions of losing in the first place.

"Fighters ready!" Makarov stood between me and Erza and was the official referee of the battles that occurs between members.

Erza and I glared intensely at one another; we've never had an accurate depiction of each other's combat potentials, so really, this battle could end from the first draw if we were not equal in terms of skill and strength.

"Fight!"

The winds danced alongside us as we dashed towards one another at impeccable speeds. Swirls of dust kicked up at the crowd, leaving them temporarily blinded to the battle as most of them had to take a moment to shield their eyes.

*CLANG*

If they couldn't see the start of the duel, then they would surely be able to hear it.

Erza wielded her mace with both hands and she swung sideways aiming towards my torso.

It would be risky to block the full brunt of my attack in case the weight of the mace crushes and dislocates my shoulders.

I lowered my body and sprung up giving my arm further momentum to deflect the attack. Steel met steel, and Kanshou deflected Erza's mace slightly upwards and changed its trajectory enough for me to avoid.

With Bakuya in my other hand I slashed at her open sides.

It was quickly reflected back as Erza swung her mace back down.

A flurry of strikes continued.

Erza would accurately strike at areas of my body I had left open to attacks; all while countering and parrying against my own fast-paced swings.

It was nothing like the sword-fight I had against Ultear who had speed, but not the talent. Erza could predict my movements and counter appropriately; a skill that could only be achieved after numerous battles and experiences. Her skills were honed and her composure was kept well-balanced throughout the battle so forth. She rarely had any openings which made it quite difficult to charge in.

The battle was exhilarating, because after all, how long has it been since I've got a chance to duel and practice with a female master swordsman. Erza's fighting style and the way she acted almost mirrored that of Saber's; they were both noble in how they fought, something I clearly lacked. My motions were not elegant, nor did they follow proper protocol and coordination most swordsmen could identify with, instead they were simple and got straight to the point.

Not a sound could be heard from the crowd, they appeared to be speechless from the demonstration we were presenting to them.

We were both dancing with weapons; it was a form of art hard to come by especially when individuals had other means of weaponry such as magic, and now, both I and Erza were practicing the art of the sword; a glorious blade dance.

Once again, Erza gripped the handle of her mace and stabbed fiercely towards my open chest.

It was expected; easily I took a step back with my left foot and spun backwards dodging the sharp point which would've impaled me through the heart. I didn't need another wound there, I thought wryly.

Keeping the spin, I swiftly twisted my body and followed up by slashing downwards with the blade in my left hand.

In a hurry, Erza leapt back a distance just narrowly getting away from my attack.

"Erza got pushed back..." Droy said nervously.

"Wow...!" Natsu could barely contain himself as he was shaking excitedly.

"That's a peculiar fighting style you have there, Shirou," Erza was starting to pant as sweat drops trickled down her pale face. "I've never seen anyone handle a sword in the way you do."

I wasn't too sure how much time had passed; after all, when you're having fun time flies. Still, unlike Erza, I seemed to be holding off my fatigue a lot better than she was. It was straining to keep up with her, but it was something I was more than accustomed to.

"I'm sure there aren't many who have developed the same style as me," I told her blatantly while shrugging my shoulders comically. "Those who do probably have a very short life-span after all."

"Huh?" Lucy shrieked out loud. "What do you mean, Shirou?"

I kept quiet and smiled innocently; explaining my way of fighting to others usually got the same negative feedback. Erza smirked as she continued her unrelenting gaze towards me.

"Shirou is purposely leaving his fatal spots open to lure his opponent's in for attack."

"What!? That's ridiculous!" Gray shouted out in wonder.

"Every one of my strikes has aimed for areas that would've been a sure kill if they had connected, and Shirou has purposely left them open," Erza stared menacingly at me. "It's a reckless and suicidal way of fighting."

"Shirou! Isn't that style just crazy!?" Lucy shouted out.

I sighed, as usual; people were quick to put down what I had been refining to perfection for almost the past decade. I suppose they were right though, this reckless style of mine could only be mastered by someone who exceeded the abnormal; someone distorted.

"I've been put in many life or death situations, and this was the only way I could face against those stronger than me," I looked towards Lucy and saw her face which oddly looked saddened. "It's not pretty, but it's kept me alive till now."

Well I suppose it wasn't the only reason I was still alive; I've seemingly lost my life more than once already.

"I see… so you had no choice but to develop such a bizarre way of fighting," Erza's body was once again swathed in a striking ostentatious show of light. "But that won't stop me."

Back when I had first seen Erza, my first impression of how she looked was that she resembled the fabled Valkyries back in my world. If you were to ask me again about what impression Erza had on me, I'd still say the same thing, and her appearance supported that.

She had two layers of metallic vibrant wings that looked like they were made from the blades of swords as well of the rest of her outfit. The breast plate was a small piece of armor that barely covered her large breasts that looked like they were ready to burst out of its container; and in both her hands were elegant swords that matched her attire.

A surge of magic could suddenly be felt being exerted from Erza as she seemed to shine magnificently underneath the rays of the sun.

One by one, swords formed around Erza as they floated in a circle above her gallant figure. Eventually up to forty swords spun dynamically as Erza prepared her next attack.

"Heaven's Wheel Armor…" Levy said in awe as she observed Erza's finely-crafted equipment.

"Shirou's in trouble…" Jet said worriedly.

"Yeah, there's no way he'll be able to defend against all those swords," Macao said confidently with his arms crossed from the front of the crowd.

"Aren't you taking this too seriously, Erza?" Alzack said as he prepared to go collect his winnings from the gambling corner. "Shirou's still a newbie."

"Come on, Shirou!" Natsu shouted with passion.

"Shirou!" Lucy had finally tried cheering for me.

All at once the crowd voiced their opinions and their views on how this battle was going to proceed at this moment. Most of them were thinking this was the end; after all, what was I going to do when being faced down by forty swords?

_Judge the concept of creation.  
Imagine the basic structure.  
Replicate the material composition.  
Imitate the craftsmanship.  
Sympathize with the experiences of its growth.  
Remake its history.  
Excel the manufacturing process._

_Trace on._

Magic circuits from within me were immediately opened as I laid down the framework needed to support the images of a multitude of weapons.

Swords seemed to have ripped through the sky's imaginary wall behind me as I flooded prana into my circuits. Much to everyone's surprise, except for a select few, forty swords seemed to have appeared magically from behind me.

"What the hell is this… Shirou!" Erza glowered at me indignantly.

The once noisy crowd was suddenly silenced. It wasn't just because I had summoned the exact same number of swords as Erza; most members already had known that I had some form of Requip magic, but the real surprise was that all the swords I had materialized were identical to Erza's.

"Are you ready to end this?" I smiled wryly at Erza.

"Tsk," Erza clicked her tongue. "I'll force an explanation out of you once you're in the hospital bed."

Just like before, Erza's magic suddenly exploded, and this time the amount of swords circling above her had doubled from the previous amount.

Mirroring her tactics, I invited more swords to the party from behind me.

The crowd still hadn't moved, not because of the spectacular sight of seeing over a hundred swords floating in the sky, but instead, they were fearful.

"…"

"EVERYONE RUN!" Makarov suddenly screamed out as he ran his with stubby legs towards shelter behind a bunch of wooden crates.

"This ends now!" Erza gave a war cry and her swords charged towards me as she followed suit from behind.

"Hah!" I directed the path of my swords towards Erza.

Everyone in the crowd screamed and wailed for their lives as they ran away terrified for their lives.

Sword after sword collided with one another as blasts resulting from the impact rang through the air of Magnolia City. With the speed each sword has fired at, every sword that made contact with another object created mini shockwaves from the amount of force each of them carried.

Of course, in the midst of this storm of swords, the two swordsmen sprung at one another while all hell seemed to have broken loose.

We traded attacks at blinding speeds; I slashed diagonally, she would parry the attack and counter with a thrust with her sword. I dodged the stab and tried countering with another quick strike; once again it was deflected.

I was drowning in the joy of unrestrainedly swinging my blades in this duel with someone equal in skills with the sword. Keeping up my projections while firing multiple rounds of them were eating away at my energy as I was beginning to feel the aches of my muscle and circuits, but all in all this was a wonderful feeling.

While the onslaught of swords still flew in the sky; I was gaining advantage on Erza, she was beginning to tire after using her abilities and fighting a long duration. She gasped for air, her movements slowed, her muscles ached, it'd be a matter of time before this came to a close.

Erza jumped back and began channeling her remaining energy into her next strike. It seemed to roar as if her body was becoming surrounded in flames of energy; fearsome indeed, Erza did not disappoint my expectations.

This was it, the finale and the conclusion of our duel was going to come down to this last attack.

I readied myself and reinforced my body and weapons to the full extent.

We made eye contact, and even though there was no signal for us to go, we both kicked off at the same time.

My stance was lowered almost to the point where my body was close to touching the ground; this last attack would be determined by speed.

Erza's motions had increased drastically from her fatigued state, but it would be a split-second too slow.

Her arms were crossed, making her swords extend from either of her sides as she raced towards me.

I edged my arm upwards towards Erza's body which would end the duel…

"!"

Suddenly, a vast amount of a murderous aura could be felt. It felt destructive and had the scent of steel as it peered down towards me and Erza. As fast as I realized it, it vanished just as quick.

_Shit!_ In this instant of distraction, it was enough for Erza to complete her attack.

Two crossed blades were millimetres from cleaving my head right off; likewise, Kanshou was almost close enough to draw blood from Erza's own neck, while Bakuya had a direct path towards her heart.

"Good fight, Erza," I applauded her skills and erased Bakuya and Kanshou.

"So this was the best I could do," Erza shook her head and erased her weapons as well.

"Unbelievable…" was the general consensus from those who could talk, and for those who couldn't, their jaws were basically hitting the floors as they stared wide-eyed at what just transpired.

"T-the duel is over! It's a draw!" Makarov climbed out from his little bunker made of boxes and stood before us to announce the conclusion. "Now everyone get the hell out of here before the council finds out about this!"

The surrounding area was a mess; the once finely paved road was nothing more than crumbles of rocks and dirt while any grass on the side of the road that was once there was probably scattered in the winds by now.

_I'll pay for the damages one day… I swear…_ I made a little promise to myself as I looked in disbelief at all the devastation we had caused.

Even so… what was that murky feeling from before? Could it perhaps have been just my imagination? Either way, I would have to be wary for the mean time.

"Shirou," Erza was still standing relatively close to me as she brought out her hand in a friendly gesture. "Besides the occasional duels, what say we do some quests together once in a while?"

I smiled kindly towards Erza and reached out to shake her hand.

"I'd be honoured."

There was nothing like the feeling of becoming friends after a fight, especially when it was a beautiful sword-swinging lady. Being accepted by Erza was another big step in becoming integrated into Fairy Tail and this world. So far, Earth Land was a world that was treating me well, and hopefully it would continue to do so.

As everyone began departing back towards Fairy Tail, Lucy could be seen from the corner of my eye moping sadly as she ran femininely.

"Not Erza too…" I heard her mutter depressingly beneath her breath.

[Scene Break]

After receiving a bunch of compliments from the Fairy Tail members and giving a brief summary of the mechanics behind my tracing and reinforcement abilities, I left for home and took my first well deserved bath. I probably don't have to say, but it was like diving into a pool of bliss and heaven.

Currently I was lying on my bed staring blankly up towards the roof as I rewind my memories and watched the experiences I've had in the past week. For the most part, they were exciting and adventurous times; almost everything I wanted was being found in this parallel world that I have been sent to. To be honest, I'm still having the occasional thought that all of this may just be a fabrication my mind had made up to counter the madness of my own world… this couldn't all just be a dream could it?

I shook away the regretful thoughts and sat up; it would do no good to live in the dismal past, instead I should be reveling in what I have now.

"Shirou?" Lucy's gentle voice could be heard from outside my open wooden which stood above my bed.

Sitting up, I peered out my window and towards the blonde beauty on the opposite side. Lucy was wearing a simple white camisole and let her golden locks flow down rather than her usual knot tied with a blue ribbon at the side of her head.

"Oh? You're still awake?" I asked Lucy as she rested her head against her arms which were crossed on the window sill.

"Mmm! Your window was open, so I was seeing if you were up as well," Lucy gave me a small smile.

"What's the problem? Can't sleep?"

"Well… we haven't had any chance to talk for the entire day, so I thought now would be a good time!"

"You could've just come up to me to chat whenever you wanted, there would be no problem with that."

"Hmph! How could I with you flirting with everyone!" Lucy suddenly raised the volume of her voice as she accused me of the impossible.

I wasn't one who normally flirted with women was I? How could Lucy misunderstand my actions towards others as flirtatious? It was quite unlike anything I'd ever do.

_Wait… Could this be?_ A while back when I was still in a relationship with Rin, she had displayed something I had never expected to occur because of me…

"Are you perhaps jealous?" I asked of Lucy innocently.

"Idiot! There's no way I would be!" Lucy shouted out into the night sky.

"Hahah… I thought so," it seems that I was wrong, but that didn't change the fact that something was bothering Lucy. "What was making you so depressed today?"

"What does it matter to you?" Lucy pouted her cheeks as she stared away from me.

"Of course it matters to me," I said sternly.

"Huh?" Lucy expression suddenly jolted in surprise.

"Seeing you smile makes me happier," I told her candidly and how I truly felt. "So if you're ever in trouble, don't hesitate to call my name. Once you do, I'll be by your side."

These weren't just some pretty words, or some white lies to better the relationship between Lucy and I, this was a vow that I swore on from the bottom of my heart. It was still a little unexplainable why I felt so devoted to Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail, but I knew it was something I could not store away or hide.

"Shirou…"

"What is it, Lucy?"

"Thank you!" and there it was. The smile that could melt my heart and wash away any daunting thoughts I might have held at the moment.

I returned her heartfelt smile with my own and welcomed the good night.

**Chapter 9 End**

Author Notes:

Phew, this chapter took longer than I expected which was because of various reasons… The biggest reason would be university, which will continue becoming a bigger factor as time goes on. Expect updates to come slower from now on unfortunately.

I won't lie, but editing was quite neglected this chapter, hahah… I don't think there will be anything too distracting though since this chapter took quite a long time, so mistakes should be minimal.

Let's see, let's see, since the Demon Island Arc ended a day earlier than in the original timeline, I'll have the Phantom Lord Arc start next chapter. This chapter was just a cool-down chapter and basically a slice-of-life kind of thing showing Shirou's interactions with some members of Fairy Tail; also it sets up future chapters for side-missions between Shirou and others!

Shirou vs Erza, in terms of proficiency with swords I'd say the two of them are quite even. Of course, Shirou has the upper hand in endurance which basically became the deciding factor in the fight if a certain someone hadn't unmasked his presence for a split second. Though if this was a real fight to the death between the two of them, it'd be a different story. Gae Bolg is just way too powerful for almost anyone to take on one versus one, and the only way I see Erza winning is through the power of 'nakama' or something crazy like that lol. Well, I guess we can see it in a different way and have 'nakama' power being a part of Erza's luck which would be 'A' rank or higher!

Anyway, I'll say this now, but next chapter will probably either make or break the rest of the Phantom Lord Arc. This is where I start to diverge from canon, thank god eh?

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoyed it.

If you see any mistakes, problems with the lore, things you like/dislike, please don't hesitate to review!


	11. Hero's Tail: Save the Guild! 1

**Hero's Tail; Chapter 10**

[STORY START]

It was a crystal clear sky this morning with the chirping of singing birds roaming throughout the vagrant sun shining down on Magnolia Town. The waters were calm and the air felt refreshing against my skin.

Despite this peaceful atmosphere of nature, what stood before me and Lucy stuck out like a sore thumb as it destroyed the illusionary harmony we were both experiencing just moments ago.

"No way…" Lucy brought up a hand of hers and covered her mouth in disbelief.

"What the hell happened here…?" I was bewildered.

In front of us was the Fairy Tail headquarters that we were in just last night, except it was now completely renovated in a bad way.

Massive pillars of what appeared to be made of iron pierced through the stone walls of the building from all corners. The once beautiful and artistic figure of Fairy Tail was now looking like some child's recreation of a porcupine fused with a castle as numerous metallic pillars demolished the roofs and walls leaving a mess on the ground below.

I was speechless; after all, I could still remember clearly the events of yesterday before I had left the perfectly intact guild. After the duel between Erza and I, we had opted to return to the guild before disembarking back home.

"_I knew it Shirou, you are a true man!" Elfman shouted while slapping my back with excessive strength._

"_I'm glad you think that way of me," I said with a little laugh._

"_To think that someone could actually match Erza with a sword," Loke said from around the corner. For some reason he was always on the opposite side of the room from Lucy._

"_Shirou! Times like these call for a congratulatory beer!" Cana held up two mugs of beer and forced one into my face._

"_Haha, I guess you're right," I replied as I was beginning to get in the mood of the celebratory environment. "Cheers!"_

"_Ahem!"_

_Someone harshly cleared their throat in order to garner everyone else's attention. It was obviously a very indignant looking Erza who was clearly not sharing the same sentiments as everybody else._

_Stone cold brown eyes pierced through me as she beckoned me over with a look that told me if I didn't, chaos would ensue. After giving a quick sigh, I complied and headed on over._

"_So Shirou… Let's hear your explanation on how you were able to use my weapons," Erza sat on top of a bar stool with one leg crossed over the other as she interrogated me._

_Many other of the members also joined the discussion we were about to have in curiosity; I guess my magic and abilities weren't common over here either._

"_Well, it's actually a part of my abilities as a mage," I started off lightly. "Regardless of the similarities of my magic compared to Erza's, I don't actually use what everyone refers to as Requip magic."_

"_What? You're bringing out weapons from a different dimensional realm aren't you?" Levy asked confused._

"_Yes, for the most part that is true, but the weapons I summon do not exactly exist. Instead of storing weapons and armory that exist in realty into an alternative space-time continuum; the objects I use are projected from the reality within the workings of my mind."_

_Blank faces were marked on everyone around me, except for one individual who I expected no less from._

"_Interesting… Are you perhaps trying to suggest that your weapons are created by virtue of imagination?" Makarov spoke up while stroking his bushy moustache._

_I nodded my head. "For the most part, that's correct; I have adopted a special ability that allows me to analyze the composition, form and history of any object I lay my eyes on, though I am more proficient at this in regards to weapons," I wasn't going to get into the complications and complex theories behind my magic; instead I was explaining most of my abilities in Layman's terms. Still, what I was explaining was only just the surface of my abilities. "And through this ability, I am able to project the image of any weapon as long as its composition is not alien to me."_

"_You're saying you were able to analyze my swords and use them as your own right when I drew them out?" Erza asked with a very engrossed tone._

"_Yeah, the moment I laid my eyes on your weapons, I was able to add them to the collection in my mind," I told her bluntly. Erza seemed to convulse slightly in anger as I mentioned that; she must've been quite prideful in her weapons. "Once I have a weapon's information stored into the archives of my mind, I am able to project their image into reality through the use of my magic."_

"_Wait, wait!" Levy shouted out in excitement. "Isn't that basically a form of Lost Magic?"_

_I recalled Ultear mentioning something about her 'Arc of Time' being considered one of the Lost Magics._

"_I believe so," Makarov looked at me in interest as he brushed his chin now. "This seems very similar to the 'Arc of Embodiment'."_

"_Arc of Embodiment?" Lucy asked out after not recognizing the name._

"_It's one of the lost arts of magic that allows its user to materialize whatever they imagine," Levy stated in a very serious manner. Peculiar and relatively unknown information seemed to be her speciality, so it came to no surprise that Levy would have this information memorized._

_Everyone whispered in awe amongst themselves. I guess even in this world there happens to be a higher plane of magic as well._

"_Though my magic does eventually disappear after being rejected by nature; it is not permanent and is constantly being fueled by my energy."_

"_I see… What a shame," Makarov said out with a sigh. "And here I was hoping you'd be able to fix the damages that occur here on a daily basis."_

_I smiled towards the saddened old man._

"_That doesn't mean I can't fix whatever needs to be fixed; magic or not."_

_Makarov turned towards me with teary eyes and quivering lips._

"_You're truly a blessing, Shirou!" the old man wept without restraint as he stretched an arm towards me and patted me on the back._

"_Every little bit we learn about Shirou makes my opinion of him grow more and more!" Jet grinned openly._

"_You've heard it here folks! Shirou can use Lost Magic and he is a part of Team Shadow Gear!" Droy cheered in unison with Jet._

"_I'll admit your magic appears to be powerful…" Erza crossed her arms as she maintained her glare. "But don't think for a second that it allows you to just waltz around and steal my weapons!"_

"_I can't make any promises," I shrugged sarcastically towards Erza with my arms up in the air._

"_You bastard… You better watch your back," Erza stood up in reaction to my reply and fiercely scowled._

"_Now, now Erza…" Levy tried standing in between the Erza and I, but she was clearly frightened._

"_Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Makarov said joining Levy. "Just look at how the guild shines gloriously and brightly after Shirou jumped at it!"_

"_Hey! I helped out too," Natsu retorted in anger._

"_You were sleeping for more than half the day; Shirou's the one that did the most of the cooking and cleaning," Gray said irritably._

"_Damn, I was discovered!" Natsu held his hands behind his head and walked away._

"_Tch," Erza clicked her tongue after being ganged up on. "Just don't be using my weapons without my permission; I ventured through hell and back to acquire some of these treasures."_

_I could understand Erza's aggravation towards me using her weapons. She had to physically obtain them herself while I merely acquired her weapons just by a single glance. Perhaps I was even feeling a little guilty about being a 'Faker', only a little bit though._

"_I'll do my best, Erza."_

_After conversing with the others a little longer, we had all parted ways from the clean and brand new looking guild._

Sure, now that I was standing in front of a crumbling guild, that just meant more fun work for me to do. But what the hell, everything I've accomplished previously has suddenly been nulled making yesterday a complete waste of time. Whoever was responsible for this was surely asking for a beating of their life.

"We've been had…" Mirajane approached us from the entrance as I and Lucy stood there in confound.

"What do you mean Mirajane?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Moreover, is everyone alright?" I added on to the end of Lucy's question.

"It seems Phantom Lord attacked our guild last night, fortunately, no one was in the guild at the time," Mirajane said with mixed emotions.

I see, so they struck last night under the detection of the Fairy Tail members. Was it a cowardly act? Or was it provocation? This wasn't something that could simply be passed by.

"What is this Phantom Lord?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot that you weren't from around here," Mirajane said as she spun back towards the entrance of the ruined building. "Come down to the basement, we'll let you in on what transpired."

[Scene Break]

From what I gathered, Phantom Lord was one of the main rival guilds in opposition to Fairy Tail for the position of top guild in all of Fiore. They have had numerous disputes and never had a good relationship with one another. Their guild master, Jose Parla, was one of the Wizard Saints much like Makarov was, and they had many famous mages much like Fairy Tail did.

They had their scuffles, but this was the first time that they had ever openly provoked Fairy Tail like this though.

"Master! Do you understand our current situation!?" Erza shouted out loud in anger.

"They wrecked our guild!" Natsu's forehead was snaking with veins as he could barely keep himself from exploding.

Mostly everyone was already present in the basement of the guild; it looks like I and Lucy were one of the last ones to arrive. Anger was one the most common expressions the members of the guild were displaying as most of them conversed about how they would go about returning the favor that our opponents have given us.

"Well, calm down," Makarov appeared to be restless, but he didn't let his infuriation get the best of like the others. "It's not something to make a fuss about."

"Serious!?" Gray shouted out incredulously.

Shock soared through the ranks of the faces listening in on Makarov's calm nature.

"Phantom right? This is as far as those idiots will go," Makarov chugged down the rest of his beer. "I don't see why they even bothered to attack an empty guild. There's no need to make a fuss about someone that resorts to cowardly attacks; leave them be."

"I CAN'T ACCEPT IT!" Natsu shouted and slammed his fists against the counter; his mouth was wide open to display his fangs as if representing his urge to fight. "I won't feel right until I smash them down!"

"Enough! We'll continue our activities here in the basement until the floors are fixed," Makarov got off his seat and landed promptly on the floor below. "While you cool down, I've gotta go, nature calls."

Makarov quickly dashed off out of sight as his small figure disappeared behind the crowds of people and furniture.

"How can Jii-chan be so calm…?" Natsu's clenched his fists and gritted his teeth heatedly.

"I could be wrong, but Makarov appears to be as agitated as the rest of us are," I threw in my own opinion in defense of Makarov. "He's the guild master; it seems falling for Phantom's insult to us would cause more problems than it would solve."

"Natsu… Warfare between guilds is prohibited by the council, and Fairy Tail is already on their bad side," Mirajane agreed with me as she tried mediating Natsu's anger.

"They were the ones who attacked first!"

"That's beside the issue…" Mirajane softly said.

"If Master truly feels this way about it…" Erza stared dishearteningly at the floor as she also gritted her teeth.

The rest of the members also mirrored the same state of mind as they had to retain a passive stance despite being humiliated as such. All because of Phantom's little childish games, the once joyful and happy nature of Fairy Tail had been trampled on; my blood was also boiling.

"We have to accept that…" Erza regrettably announced.

Was there any way of facilitating and receding everyone's current misery and hatred being expressed?

Everyone left on that note to find something to take their minds off of the current situation; I headed towards the table where my new team was residing.

Levy currently rested her head against her hands placed on the table, while Jet and Droy seemed to be silently contemplating and sorting out their thoughts on the matter.

"How about we take on our first mission together after everything's settled?" I asked the three of them. It was the only thing I could do for them as a friend; I couldn't just stand around while they drowned their sorrows away. While it wasn't much, this way they could concentrate on something other than what happened.

"Hmm, our first mission together?" Jet repeated my words.

"You say some good things, Shirou!" Droy's energy had suddenly rejuvenated. "I'm down for whenever!"

"The sooner the better!" Levy raised her head and cheered gleefully. "We'll earn enough Jewels to repair the entire guild!"

"That's the spirit; there's nothing we can do here, instead we should be focussing on things to contribute to the guild," I nodded my head as I appreciated their enthusiasm. "Then how about we begin one tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Droy got off his seat and pumped his fist into the air. "I'll go look for one now! Just to let you know, I'm going to pick the most difficult one available to us."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," I told him happily.

"Alright! Then let's meet up tomorrow morning!" Droy shouted to which all of us cheered. "I seriously can't wait."

The four of us seemed to become the centre of the guild as our delight and enthusiasm was distracting the others from their own self-destructive moods. Even after something as mortifying and discouraging as what had just occurred to our guild, it is times like these where having bonds with each other truly mattered. It was something I was beginning to pick up off from my fellow friends around me.

[Scene Break]

Twilight passed as most members of the guild were proceeding to leave after a long day of removing rubble and contributing anything that they could to restoring the building. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Happy and Erza had already left moments ago leaving me and the rest of Team Shadow Gear.

"What a beautiful night sky!" Droy said excitedly as we ventured outside the destroyed doors of Fairy Tail. He brought up his hands as if trying to grasp the twinkling stars for himself. "The stars are shining brightly as always."

"Magnolia Town does have a spectacular view of the sky, there's no doubt about that," I said in response to Droy's delight.

"Ahh man, I can't wait to get home and relax!" Jet let out an exasperated breath as he hung his arms loosely. "What a day of no excitement!"

"Just think about tomorrow!" Levy joyfully stated. "Make sure everyone's well rested for Team Shadow Gear's first mission with Shirou!"

"Right, no one be late for tomorrow!" Droy said with pleasure in his face.

The entire day has been filled with the sounds of our jubilant laughter which spread throughout the guild; even Natsu couldn't help but cheering up after witnessing Team Shadow Gears antics as we went about trying to fix up the guild. More so of the other members and less of me; I didn't have much of that natural talent of spreading happiness like some kind of disease. Either way, showing no weaknesses and moving forward was the best solution to our current predicament.

"Careful on your way home!" I waved to the three of them as we separated ways at the front of the guild.

"Same goes for you, but that probably doesn't have to be said," Levy cheerfully smiled as the three of them returned to wave.

"See you tomorrow, Shirou!" Droy waved enthusiastically.

With that final note, I headed back home after an eventful day.

[Scene Break]

_Phantom Lord, huh? _If all they were capable of was damaging an unoccupied building, then were they not much of a threat? That couldn't be it, after all, I learnt that their master was as strong as Makarov was and they even have members equal to Fairy Tail's own S-class individuals. Just what were they expecting to happen after attacking our guild; it wasn't likely that they were just satisfied with seeing our guild wrecked.

I arrived at my front door and gave a quick peep to the neighbouring house belonging to Lucy. The lights were out, so it was probably reasonable to expect that Lucy was asleep. It was announced that members were to head home together to avoid being ambushed, so I could rest assured knowing that Natsu and the others had escorted her home safely.

With that in mind, I took out my key and unlocked the door to my home…

Something was amiss; coming from the upper floors leading to my rooms was a familiar scent. I instantly forced prana into my hearing abilities and listened in. Carefree voices could be heard as I slowly walked up the stairs. _It couldn't be…_

Heaving a sigh, I opened the door.

"Welcome home."

"Welcome."

"Quite a bland room you have."

"Yo."

"Sorry for the intrusion Shirou, heheh."

Five members of Fairy Tail were comfortably seated at my dining table.

"I see you five have already made yourself tea to enjoy," I wryly smiled.

"Please help yourself," Erza gracefully said.

"You guys are unbelievable…" I racked my brain as I tried to calm myself from the sight of these intruders telling me to 'help myself' to my own assets.

Though I understood their intentions of sticking together in times like these, could they have at least let me know that they were going to use my living space?

"Don't be upset, Shirou. This is precautionary action required after seeing Phantom's outright challenge towards us," Erza stated meticulously while elegantly sipping on some tea.

"So we decided it was best if no one was alone," Gray tagged in as he also enjoyed some tea.

"Hmph, I still say we attack them," Natsu crossed his arms and leant back on the chair he was seated in.

"Whose idea was it to have this little sleepover at my place?"

Four out of five of the member's eyes turned towards a particular blonde female who started to shrink in her seat.

"Lucy said she'd just sleep at your place, Shirou!" Happy nonchalantly said.

"I didn't say that!" Lucy screamed out as all the blood rushed into her face. "You guys just assumed I'd be relying on Shirou to protect me!"

A silence entered the room after Lucy shouted; now how was I going to respond to this? Perhaps I shouldn't.

"Who knows what Lucy would do if she was left alone with you," Erza completely ignored Lucy. "That's why I decided to join with Natsu and Gray to keep you safe."

"Thanks… I guess," I replied not knowing what else to say.

"Hah… So no one's listening," Lucy sighed and gave up trying to prove her innocence.

For a few minutes, everyone ravished through my rooms looking for anything they could blackmail me with. It looks like these friends of mine have no sense of privacy. My drawers were tossed open, my closet was emptied out and even the few paintings that came with the house were removed in search of anything suspicious. Their search would be in vain, because I haven't had the time to decorate anything but my kitchen.

"This place is kind of boring, Shirou…" Natsu said sadly.

"Aye sir…" Happy was practically falling asleep.

"I would've thought that you'd have s-some in-in-indecent material in here!" Lucy said out embarrassingly.

"Yeah…" Erza agreed with a nod of her head. "Lucy! Quick, let's check under his bed!"

The two of them suddenly tousled and searched under my bed and every other compartment surrounding it.

"I've been living her for less than a week, and what gave you the idea that I'd have erotic material lying about!?" I said out a little irritated. It was bad enough that they intruded out of nowhere, but to suspect me of such things! I would've obviously hidden them in places that would be impossible to find if I had some.

The gong show continued for a few minutes until everyone finally admitted there was no point in looking any further.

"Hey…" Lucy silently spoke up while everyone began setting up their resting spots. It goes without saying that I was getting the floor while Lucy and Erza would share my bed. "Why did Phantom suddenly attack us?"

"I don't know… We've had some brushes before, but this is their first time attacking our guild in such a direct way," Erza explained.

"Jii-chan should quit being scared and fight it out," Natsu grumbled while seated cross-legged on the wooden floor.

"Isn't there anything being done?" I asked with interest; after all, they practically destroyed the guild just when I had tidied it up. "Surely we can't just leave it like this."

"That's right! We should go get reven-"

"Don't be stupid," Gray interrupted the jumping Natsu. "Our best bet now is to be patient while the Magic Council deals with this."

"He's right, Natsu," Erza regretfully nodded her head in agreement to Gray's thoughts. "In reality, if our guild and Phantom were to clash… both guilds would be devastated."

"!"

A sudden burst of magic from afar ignited my senses; it reeked of iron. This was definitely the destructive aura and essence that distracted me the previous day, also, it was most likely the individual responsible for the damage to the guild.

Instinctively I stood straight up on alert. With this explosion of magic which I could detect from such a distance, it couldn't have been a good sign.

"Shirou?" Lucy asked cautiously after I had abruptly broken the silent atmosphere.

"There's trouble..." the magic could still be felt through the stale night air. "I'm going to check it out."

Without thinking twice, I threw open the window atop of my bed and stepped on top of the sill.

"Wait! What's the matter?" Erza followed towards the window seeking an explanation, but I had already leapt.

"I'm not sure, but I'll find out soon!" my voice echoed through the air as my body was shrouded in the wind generating from my rapid descent from the two-story building.

I could hear the others in my room scrambling to their feet with my heightened senses from reinforcement, but I couldn't trivially wait for them to catch up.

As soon as my foot hit the ground, I swiftly sped towards the location of the outbreak of magical energy.

Not a single soul was gracing the empty streets with their presence; it was eerily quiet. The streets were illuminated by the lampposts placed along the sidewalks as well as the full moon gazing down towards the night in Magnolia Town. Even so, there wasn't any time to enjoy the spectacle of a beautiful city in the current situation I was in.

My body was pushed to its upper limits as there were no traces of the magic powers lessening, and now that I was closing in, other magical sources were arising in the midst.

It was a scent I was very well acquainted with.

"Levy, Jet, Droy..." I muttered out as I spun around the corner. "What the hell is going on...?"

From a few blocks away covered by a row of buildings, clouds of dust could be seen trailing across the night sky. Hastily I dashed past the remaining obstacles and into the clearing where I could finally observe the cause of my frantic worries.

It was in a small open rectangular field that resembled a park. It was surrounded by few trees and bushes; in the centre of the patch of land stood a relatively large tree. One tall figure stood tall over three others lying flat on their stomachs.

Blood littered in streaks across the green scenario where a battle had occurred. Iron pillars devastated the ground throughout the area which indicated a hectic battle had just ensued.

It took a split second to finally collect the information thrashing into my mind as I stared at the three lying bodies.

Jet's face could not be seen as his face lay buried into the grass...

Droy's body was sprawled out onto the grass as he still showed indication of trying to put up a fight, but it was clear from the state of his bloody wounds that it was impossible...

Levy's clothes were in tatters and miserable streams of tears coursed down her cheeks as she attempted to crawl closer to Jet to shield him...

What the fuck was this...?

The unknown perpetrator was being shadowed by the tree as it blocked the moon from revealing its image.

"Gihik!" the sound of a male formed from its mouth as he laughed confidently over the three fallen.

"You're not going to get away with this..." Droy grunted with whatever breath he had left. This resulted in a vicious lapse of coughing blood. "You basta- *COUGH* *COUGH*"

"Why are you doing this!?" Levy who had been roughed up as well shouted towards the male.

Though Levy was in bad shape, it was incomparable to Jet and Droy who suffered brutal wounds. The two of them must've placed themselves before Levy in order to protect her.

The man gaudily snickered out into the night sky as he witnessed Droy and Levy resisting

"The weak will always fall before the strong!" he took a few steps towards Levy.

"That's no reason…" Levy whimpered.

"Isn't this how society functions? The rats of the streets will be stomped!"

"S-stop..." Droy reached out his shaking arm.

"Weaklings should be silenced while they prostrate themselves to those superior!" the man was now mere steps away from Levy. "Do you understand!? Gihik!"

"Then grovel before me."

A heart-chilling crack was heard as I drove the tip of Kanshou into his gut. The tip pierced through and jutted a few inches into his flesh. It was surprisingly shallow.

With the intention of pain, I wrenched the blade out and before the individual could react I pivoted my foot to the left and delivered with all the force I could muster into my right leg and side kicked the region I had just punctured.

"Urghh!"

It almost seemed like the sound of metal clanging. Blood spurted out when the blow from my reinforced steel toe boots knocked the person off his feet and onto the ground a few meters forward.

"Are you three alright?" I asked in a low voice while I kept my glare at the new male.

He had long shaggy black hair and wore a black sleeveless tunic with white pants. What was most surprising was his face which appeared to have bolts attached where his eyebrows would be and vertically down his nose and his chin.

"Shirou!" Droy coughed out.

"Shirou... It's really you..." Levy's distraught face converted to a gentler image as she spoke softly. "The team's all here now..."

I nodded my head in agreement as I watched my foe getting back up to his feet.

"It's you..." the man grunted while clutching his open wound.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked in a menacing tone.

"Shirou! Be careful," Droy spoke up from beside me. "He's Gajeel, a Dragon Slayer like Natsu, except that he uses iron rather than fire."

A Dragon Slayer; this was going to be interesting.

"You were the one watching my duel with Erza yesterday," I stated.

"Hmph, so you noticed," Gajeel remarked negatively. "I'm trembling in excitement; I can't believe my luck that I'd be able to crush you tonight. A strong warrior from Fairy Tail, I could barely contain myself when I saw that battle yester-!"

I didn't give him the liberty of introducing himself. Before he could finish, Bakuya and Kanshou were already in direct path towards him.

The spinning blades both centered into the location where Gajeel was standing. Being caught off guard, the only reaction he could manage was to shield his head and body with his arms.

It sounded like a hack saw cleaving through another piece of metal. Sparks flew from the sides of both Gajeel's arms where the blades connected with, and left a long narrow gash on the upper shoulders which drew blood.

Even though I didn't have the intention of killing; the result was still diminished from what I had expected.

"Impatient aren't you," Gajeel said as he shook off the pain. Within seconds, both Bakuya and Kanshou returned to my grasp like a boomerang.

"Gajeel... You messed with the wrong team," Droy chuckled weakly as he forced a grin onto his bloody lips. "Kick his ass, Shirou!"

"Hah! Rats should not be talking," Gajeel replied as he got into a fighting stance. "This should be fun."

The ground behind him exploded in a cloud of grass and dirt as he took off towards me. His arms suddenly transformed into a dense form of steel as he brought them up to attack.

His right arm pounded against Bakuya which I brought up to defend with. In a fury, his left arm swung upwards in a flash as I blocked it hastily with Kanshou. Though he was fast and powerful, he left far too many openings which I could easily take advantage of.

Another fist of iron sped towards my face and I easily deflected it while dealing another shallow cut at his abdomen with my free arm.

The fight continued in a similar fashion where Gajeel would charge in at me while converting the composition of his limbs to use as weapons, and where I would swiftly dodge and deal a swift counter.

Just like how he altered the composition of his arms and legs into steel, it was most likely that he was modifying the rest of his body into a similar form to avoid sustaining heavy injuries. Either I was going to slowly chip him down, or try something entirely new…

"Huh!" I grunted out as I once again twisted my body and struck Gajeel's injured abdomen with the sole of my boot.

The impact was enough to throw Gajeel off balance as he tottered back a few meters while trying to catch his breath from being winded.

I crossed my arms and sprung them out while releasing both blades swirling towards Gajeel.

"That won't work again!" Gajeel roared.

Instead of trying to avoid and defend against the blades responsible for emitting a deathly hallow in this stagnant night, he brought up both his transfigured arms made of steel and moved them to the trajectory of both Kanshou and Bakuya.

The resulting sparks seemed to light the surrounding area as the velocity of the blades were brought to a halt by Gajeel's sturdy arms which absorbed the might of my trusted swords.

Both swords protruded from his pillar-like arms as they cleaved through at least half of its diameter.

"I don't even remotely see how that could be considered successful," I smirked sarcastically.

Gajeel wheezed and strained himself while putting full effort into removing the foreign objects lodging itself into his arms. The moment he removed both swords, his arms returned to its former human image with exception of the gashes in both arms that flowed with blood. He ominously held both swords by the hilt.

"Thanks for the meal," surprisingly he brought both blades to his open mouth… and chomped down hard.

"*CHOMP CHOMP*... This stuff is extremely tough," Gajeel repeatedly grinded his teeth against the blades near the hilt. His teeth were definitely ranging near the top levels of the Moh's scale of hardness as eventually the steel blades of my trusted weapons parted with the hilt.

In a deliberate manner, Gajeel also belched out loudly in a provoking manner as he rubbed his stomach.

"What the..." Droy was as confused as I was.

"H-he must be like Natsu!" Levy stammered out worried. "If he consumes his element, then his powers will be rejuvenated!"

Ever so slowly, the wounds Gajeel had sustained began closing up as his epithelial cells began duplicating at an accelerated rate. Even his fatigue seemed to vanish as if it were originally a lie.

I had also seen Natsu consuming fires at times; what a convenient trait it must have been to be satisfied by consuming raw substances. Unfortunately for Gajeel, my weapons weren't your typical blacksmith crafted swords.

"Urghh!" Gajeel suddenly doubled over. "What the hell... It's burning my insides..."

"It's mortifying enough to watch you treat my swords as a meal," I told him with a little annoyance in my voice. "An upset stomach is the least of your worries."

My projections had been created with the intentions of replicating its original composition, but even so, it was still an anomaly to reality. What Gajeel consumed was not steel, but an infusion of my magic.

He might've been able to heal the damages inflicted on his body, but it looks like consuming and absorbing prana into his own magical reserves would be similar to taking poison directly into your body.

"You disappoint me," I said while I watched him writhe in pain.

"What!?"

"You're just someone who ambushes those that would assure a complete victory," I stated in contempt. "Such cowardice."

"Stop talking like you've won!" Gajeel roared. He ground his teeth together which resulted in the sound of scraping metal. His previous demeanor of sickness was replaced by one of pure ferocity.

What was most striking was not his rage, but his change in appearance.

He was covered in scales; much like those belonging to a legendary class of reptiles; dragons.

Gajeel's face and body were transformed with metallic scale-like features in reaction to his outburst of emotions.

"Don't look down on me you bastard!" Gajeel's magical energy drowned the surrounding area with a relentless force.

He dashed towards me with a burst of speed.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" a sword that looked similar to a chainsaw replaced his right arm as he swung down to where I stood.

As if it were instinct, I leapt back from the spot which exploded in a heap of dirt.

It was an unrefined display of power resembling a wild animal; just how I wanted it.

I searched the archives of my mind... It was a weapon I had never gotten the chance to use thus far, but here in Earth Land it felt almost perfect.

This sword would induce nightmares into that foe that stood before me; a fitting conclusion for someone who harms the innocent.

_Trace on._

Prana surged through me as it coursed into my desired weapon. It continued eating away at my reserves as my circuits slightly burned in order to stabilize its image being projected into reality. From the darkness emerged the abysmal sword that screamed into the air as it surfaced into my hand.

"W-what...?" Gajeel's face deformed as he gazed upon the arrival of my new weapon. His body momentarily began to shake, but he quickly suppressed it.

It appeared that Gajeel could somewhat sense the hidden properties of the weapon that lay in my hands. Though it wasn't surprising, considering this weapon had the ability to slay dragons. This was irony at its finest for the individuals known as 'Dragon Slayers' to develop the same weaknesses as the dragons that they were made to kill.

Faster than the blink of an eye, I pressed forward and slashed my sword diagonally towards his chest.

He reacted fast and held his arm which converted to a weapon to block; a grave mistake.

"ARHH!" with his weapon literally being a part of his body, the full effect was felt from my attack.

Gajeel crashed into the ground while his body rocketed back as it tore up the earth below.

"What the hell is with that weapon!?"

"A dragon slaying sword."

I twirled the shadowy sword that was enthralled underneath the moonlight. Its chains that were wrapped around the guard rattled slightly underneath the tremendous speed it was cutting through the air with as I clutched the hilt firmly with both hands. Arondight, an immortal sword that was given to a warrior heralded as the 'perfect knight'. It was once a holy sword that was considered a counterpart to Excalibur, but its owner succumbed to darkness, thus tainting the sword. Even now while I hold this sword, it called out for demise.

Blood trailed down Gajeel's lips as he spat out the accumulating blood in his mouth. He wearily stood back up onto his feet; he was an enemy, but I could still respect his perseverance.

"You have injured my friends, so unfortunately I have to return the favor." I calmly told him. "I'm sure the Council will have a word with you about your conduct though."

"Shirou..." Droy happily called my name.

Instead of admitting defeat and pleading for mercy, Gajeel did the opposite, and laughed.

"Gihik!" he wiped the blood off his lips. "So Fairy Tail is not so full of weaklings after all. Phantom does not have a character such as you; it's quite the bore sometimes."

He chuckled slightly while wincing in pain as I began walking in his direction with my sword in hand.

"I see…" the entire match between us was clearly one-sided, but even now Gajeel had a strong glint in his eyes. "Perhaps you've joined the wrong guild, there's full of powerful individuals in my guild."

Erza, Natsu, Gray… the faces of the members of Fairy Tail flew through my mind. Even Levy, Jet and Droy had the potential to rise to elite levels if they were to become serious. I couldn't blame anyone who was ignorant of the true nature behind the friendly and pacifist looking faces of those people. Their strong-wills and desire of obtaining their goals is admirable; it was why I felt so at home in Fairy Tail.

"Hah! For your own good, I hope you're right!"

"What do you mean by that?"

Gajeel did not answer and clapped both his hands above his head. His magic gathered at an unfathomable rate; it was amazing how he could display such power when just momentarily ago he was nearly on the verge of collapsing.

I rocketed towards him as he prepared his last ditch attack.

"Karma Demon: Iron God Sword!"

Above his clapped hands arose a mountainous stake that stretched towards the sky. The form was much like a sword, but it appeared highly unstable as its shape shifted and vibrated intensively while Gajeel did all in his power to keep it under control.

And before I knew it, the towering sword flashed down towards me.

"Gah!" within the last second I plunged my foot into the ground and held off the attack with my own sword. My arms burnt and every second underneath the weight of Gajeel's magic felt like torture as the joints in my leg felt like imploding within itself.

Sweat caressed my brows as I could feel it racing down from my forehead; I was seriously starting to get a sense of how Atlas must've felt all those torturous years holding the sky on top of his shoulders.

Every second felt like an eternity, but luckily for me, the amount of time that Gajeel could sustain this devastating power was a lot less than forever.

"I-i-impossible…" Gajeel eyes looked like it was on the edge of popping out of his sockets while he panted from exhaustion. His arms dangled from the sides and his legs looked like they were about to give way at any moment.

"Not bad," I said out loud while stretching my shoulders in a circular motion. It was obviously a lot more than I expected, but the end result was still the same.

It was over; the fears that were previously crawling within my mind were doused and another night would come to an end.

I dug my foot out of the ground it had drove into and advanced towards Gajeel.

"!" I froze.

"Shirou…?" Levy called out worriedly.

This was definitely something to be worried about. All within a span of a few seconds, the entire surrounding was immersed in an outward display of power. The energy I was feeling drowned the air I was standing in as I could barely contain myself from choking. It was the scent of death.

In a hurry I scanned the area for the source of this demonic power, and that's when I spotted him.

Darkness… a malicious darkness that threatened to envelop the area into the realm of shadows; it was my first impression of that man who marched towards us.

The hair on my skin stood on edge from the frozen chill I was experiencing from his imminent descent before us. Just what was this sinking premonition I was feeling?

"Gajeel…" his cold and calculating voice emerged from his figure which appeared to be enshrouded by evil. His face was revealed underneath the rays of moonlight; his hair was a bloody red and was tied back and he had a thin moustache. "Your objective shouldn't have taken this long; I suppose my judgement on finding you was fortunate."

"Master…"

_This was the master of Phantom Lord, Jose Porla? _That explains the ominous power I could feel being generated from his body.

His darkened pupils shifted its gaze towards me as I readied my blade.

"Droy, Levy!" I shouted behind my back. "Get Jet and leave this area immediately!"

"Wh-what…?" Levy stuttered as she shook from the presence in front of us.

"Shirou, we're not just going to leave you to fight alone!" Droy forcefully retorted my shout to escape.

"I'm not going to say it again…" the handle in my grip tightened. "LEAVE!"

My voice boomed across the foreboding night that crawled with the scent of death.

"Hmm?" Jose's voice trailed off as he sneered at me. "Disgusting brats… don't think you're leaving alive."

Without looking back at the three behind me I sprinted towards Jose and brought Arondight over my shoulders.

I couldn't let my guard down against the master of Phantom; his very manifestation in this area reeked with the aroma of demise. There was no telling what his abilities were, and waiting to find out could result in an early grave.

Unlike Gajeel who came with the intention of hurting the members of Fairy Tail… Jose was aiming to kill.

At the halfway point of my destination, Gajeel obstructed my path with his own body as he took a fighting stance despite his worn-out body.

"We're not done yet!"

The blade I was wielding flashed diagonally in front of me towards Gajeel and his body instantly vanished from my range of sight as it was sent hurling across the field. An explosion was heard which was the result of his tumbling body crashing along the once pleasant grounds.

With Gajeel temporarily hindered from blocking me on my path, I closed in on the remaining distance towards Jose. Not once since I made my move had he even flinched; his figure felt more and more surreal the more I analyzed it.

Being a couple meters away from Jose, I gripped the handle of Arondight with both hands and speared it forward into his body.

The tip gouged through Jose's body as the blade could be seen exiting through the other side. There was no sound, no resistance, no feeling, no reaction…

My body was lowered to the ground to gain leverage with my stabbing motion and I gazed up to observe the details on Jose's face.

His black-stained eyes continued glaring forward at where I previously was located.

A smile appeared on his stoic face… his sight was never set on me in the first place.

"LEVY, JET, DROY!" I followed his gaze and was met by my allies in the line of his focus.

"Huh?" Droy and Levy looked at me chaotically as my expression turned agitated.

"RUN!"

The illusionary projection of Jose that I had just impaled dissipated as I raced back towards where my friends were still positioned.

How could this have happened…? The real Jose stood behind them and raised his arm.

_Wait…_

Shadows in the form of the undead swirled and amassed in his outstretched hand.

_Stop…_

It concentrated and condensed into an orb gleaming in an eerie light. Time seemed to slow as I watched from a distance like I was watching a movie; unable to affect what was coming. Levy and Droy turned around to face Jose. At this point, Droy had regained enough strength to be able to stand.

_This isn't supposed to happen…_

With the collected magic in the palm of his hand, Jose stretched his arm out in front of himself.

"STOP IT!"

The subsequent pool of ghastly magic was unleashed; splitting everything in its path. Darkness began to flood my irrational thoughts and my vision was momentarily blinded by the explosion from the result of Jose's magic.

Dust clouded my vision as I pushed on ahead to the centre of the explosion; my heart raced and my head felt like tearing.

What was I thinking at this very moment? I wasn't too sure of it myself; my mind was becoming empty as I let my instincts take over.

"A-ahh…" Levy's cracked voice was heard amongst the turmoil.

"Levy, you're okay!?" I rushed to her side where she was still kneeling beside the unconscious Jet.

"Ahh… Ah-ah…" incoherent sounds were the only thing Levy could force out of her throat.

Levy was crying.

The dust began parting to the sky as I finally realized the reason for Levy's distraught state of mind.

An array of footsteps running towards our area could be heard as I gaped wordlessly at the sight before me.

"Shirou!" the voices belonged to the members of Fairy Tail I had left behind back at my house, but at this instant they were sounds lost in the wind.

"… Master, you couldn't have…" Gajeel's voice could be heard trembling from a little distance off.

"My, my… more brats have arrived," Jose snorted complacently; I could feel his scent walking away in the opposite direction. "The wheels have been set in motion, we're leaving now Gajeel."

I wanted to hunt him down as he turned his back. I wanted to wrench my blade through his cold and tainted heart. I wanted him to feel the anguish I was already submerged in.

But I couldn't.

My mind and reasoning was sinking deeper into that ocean of anguish; my arms and legs felt like they were bound by steel cable ropes as all I could do was lose sight of the surface.

Killing Jose wasn't what I should be doing now…

"Droy!" I shouted while running towards his kneeling figure dripping with a crimson liquid.

His broken body collapsed forward and I caught him right before his face was planted in the disheveled ground in front of him caused by Jose's attack.

"Droy, don't you dare die on me," I held his body within my arms as I got ready to lift him. "Hold on, I'll find you some help."

My voice was frantic much like a lost-child's, because after all, I could tell that it was hopeless.

"Droy!" I shouted his name again as I stood up on my feet.

The voices behind me were in a much worst state than mine was in; there was a muffled cry, a lash out of disbelief, and an uncontainable rage that was already longing for vengeance. At this point, I couldn't make out what was what.

"S-Shi… rou…" a faint whisper brought me back to my senses.

"Droy, it'll be alright, hang on a bit longer," I carefully took off into the streets in the direction of an infirmary while carrying Droy.

"… Shirou," his voice was softer than before but it was also clearer. "We're friends right?"

"Yeah… We're definitely friends."

"That's awesome… seriously," a small grin formed on his lips. "When we first met at Mt. Hakobe, I realized… you're the person I have always aspired to be, a real hero…"

"Droy…"

"But I guess that's a little too late now, hahah…" he weakly chuckled.

"That's wrong," I strongly said without a hint of deceit. "You're already a hero; you saved Levy and Jet without a second thought."

"Mmm…"

"Droy…?"

With his last remaining traces of strength, Droy pulled himself to my ear. He whispered his last few words without erasing that smile that seemed so natural on his face.

My movements slowed and eventually I came to a halt as I continued holding on to the precious and lifeless body which became illuminated under the moonlight.

_I failed._

In the path I have sworn my life to, I had eventually come to the realization that it was flawed; death was a concept that would litter the roads I tread upon. From the events that had shook the very foundations of my life and to the moment where I had thought my life was at an end, I have always lived with death.

The only way to protect my sanity and continue on forward was to steel my mind and keep emotions from interfering with my goals. This did not mean that seeing people die before me did not affect me, but it was at a level where I wouldn't be overly involved to disrupt my duties.

My emotions were locked away and the juvenile and innocent idea I held before about never allowing an innocent life before me to be lost was something I learned to be impossible. After seeing so many lives lost, eventually I could only accept that not everyone can be saved.

So why was it so insufferable…? Why was I feeling overwhelmed with sorrow?

_Take care of Levy and Jet in my place will ya? Thank you, Shirou…_

[Scene Break]

The members of Fairy Tail stood before Droy's deathbed, save for Levy and Jet who were admitted to an infirmary and were recovering from both mental and physical injuries. For the time being, Droy would remain within Fairy Tail headquarters until further notice. It was to everyone's agreement that his final moment before his grave would be here with his family.

I will never forget the grim and vexed faces coupled with the streams of tears that everyone had expressed, and I will never forget the feelings of retribution that I shared with Fairy Tail.

The relaxed and ironic smile I usually held disappeared, and was replaced by a cold and emotionless face. Jose has already taken the life of one of my friends, there's no doubt that he'll strike again unless we stop him dead in his tracks.

Every available member of Fairy Tail had immediately rushed to the guild after hearing news of what transpired the night before. Multiple times, Natsu had attempted to charge off on his own and it was difficult trying to stop him for the reason that I had consciously wanted to do the same.

"Master…" Erza shook uncontrollably as she kept her gaze lowered.

Makarov stood before Droy as his chest heaved up and down, one hand covering his face to block out the view of his tears. Makarov was the father and we were his children… there was no doubt Makarov was the most furious of all.

"Shirou," Makarov called out my name in an unyielding voice despite his shaken appearance. "What was my child like during his final moments?"

"He was a hero," there would be no need for glorification, because in my mind, Droy has already done more than what can be put in words. "With no hesitation, Droy placed himself in front of an attack knowing that this would happen in order to save the people he loved."

Some members choked on their own tears, but they still stood firmly in order to show their respects to Droy.

"I see…" with his hand still covering his eyes, Makarov's body convulsed as he did all in his power to present a dignified presence worthy of the name 'Master' to Droy's sleeping figure. "So my child has grown up to become a hero."

"Dammit…" Natsu clenched his teeth and tried to shake away his tears.

"Unforgivable…" Gray mirrored Natsu.

I had only known Droy for a short duration of time, but during that time I had already come to see him as a friend. Droy had been a member of Fairy Tail for almost a decade; I can only imagine the pent up frustration everyone was experiencing as they looked down at someone who was practically a brother to them.

_"You're one of the greatest guys I've ever come to know! It was definitely destiny that we met each other..."_

My rage was building up again at an immeasurable rate as I looked at Droy's peaceful face. How cruel and twisted fate was to steal away life from those who do not deserve it; I couldn't comprehend it.

"Droy will remain here for the rest of the day before we say our farewells," Makarov said as he spun around to meet the faces of the almost hundred members of Fairy Tail that were gathered here in this grief-stricken moment. "Meanwhile we as members of Fairy Tail have to complete our duty."

The misery spilling over in the guild was going to be converted to a new emotion on the other side of the spectrum… wrath.

"WE GO TO WAR!" his voice did not seem to belong to a short old man, but instead a fearsome giant.

Makarov's deafening roar was reiterated by every single member of Fairy Tail as the thunderous warcry echoed throughout the guild.

My anger was seething and the only remedy was Jose's blood.

There will be no dawn for Phantom.

**Chapter 10 End**

Author Notes:

I am a little slow to update and the reason is split between school and how hard it was to write this chapter. As you can probably see from my previous chapters, everything is going perfectly for Shirou; if this continued then ultimately everything Shirou had previously lived for would seem like an illusion. Death is real, and it follows Shirou sadly.

My one main problem with Fairy Tail is how a _deus ex machina _(Tenrou Island was where I got a little irritated with this) will always suddenly appear out of thin air and save everyone. Sure, I understand maybe that's the point of Fairy Tail and how the power of love and friendship will solve everything, but it gets a little contrived after seeing it so many times considering that the Fairy Tail world has a lot of gruesome facts of its own.

From the start Phantom has aimed to actually kill members of Fairy Tail, except for a few members (Juvia, and hopefully Gajeel). Considering that both guilds are considered equal in power, how did Phantom get stomped on so badly? Jose had attempted to use his guild's cannons and what not which would level half the city, so Jose killing Droy did not seem strange to me. And for Jose to pop out of thin air during the battle, I wouldn't think of it as too much of a coincidence. Shirou's entrance into Earth Land changes a lot of things, and it wouldn't be too out of place to have word about this sword swinging freak getting around to the ears of Jose. He would probably be at least worried about his strongest member.

Hopefully I can get the next chapter up faster than this one; I'm sure most of you can guess what happens next chapter!

Reviewer Comments:

Shadow Zeranion: What you're waiting for is coming soon my friend!

Undeen: That is pretty fun to consider; perhaps if Erza's storage for weapons is timeless then this could become a possibility. I'm gonna have to think about this, thanks for the idea.

Warden Valdr: Thanks for the comment! My plan is to show at least two different Noble Phantasms per Arc, so it won't be pure K&B. It wouldn't be Shirou if he didn't win by being unpredictable lol.

Condor green: Ahh, I'll admit I posted that chapter in a rush in the middle of the night. I wanted to have it posted and have nothing to think about except school. I figured I'd just post the interrogation this chapter.

Kami no Kage: Thanks, I just didn't have the heart to have Shirou beating Erza in a duel; I think I might touch up on this battle a little bit to not have it look so one-sided.

DemonRaily: Hand gestures, that's true. I'll keep that in mind cause that's a good point you bring up. Yeah I think I'm going to touch up on that fight a little bit. If the members realized how his abilities are slowly using up his life, I'm sure they'd bash him for it; at least Lucy would forbid him by all means.

Orchamus: Extreme wrath is an understatement at this point.

N0mster: True, even I felt a little bad about ending the duel that way.

DarnReality: To beat a sword spammer you need another sword spammer, at least that's how I see it hahah. Yeah as many reviewers have mentioned, it's too early to have a definite winner especially for a character like Shirou. Thanks for the mention about my grammar, and I keep forgetting to read your stories even though the premises are attractive to me lol, I'll get on it soon.

Dumbledork: Hahah, I'll have to really flesh out that scene

NIX'S WARDEN: Can't answer (1) for surprise factor. (2) Yes and probably pretty soon. (3) Yup, look forward to it!

Jouaint: Yup, I'm still thinking about possible scenarios but Shirou will need to use everything at his disposal.

KingofZeroX: Wow, can you see the future?

Srey: It was fun reading your reviews, especially since it tells me that I'm at least improving in my writing abilities. Yeah, while reading/watching Fairy Tail, I was also thinking, "Wow, someone like Shirou would love this place." Oh damn, you're right about that electricity thing… I'll just throw in the word lacrima and everything will be fine hahah.

GaeDearg: Thanks for the review, I'm glad my small attempts at humor are noticeable lol.

Vegeta the 3rd: Yeah! Sword spamming is the perfect counter to sword spamming! I actually got this idea from a couple PM's and a review, but since Shirou's Reality Marble works based on Shirou's idea of reality then it should probably work the same way it does back in his own world. The Reality Marble will affect the people in it differently though. I think Makarov is a very lenient Master, as long as his 'kids' are free from danger he's pretty carefree, so when he saw that they arrived back safely that's all that mattered to him. Of course, this is just how I see him. Thanks for the long review, it got my mind working up more ideas!

LacelotQuanta: Yup, it'd be safer to go with concrete alternatives rather than coming up with my very own; just something I'll think about further. Thanks for the warning, I'm still thinking it all through.

Mercy0880: Yeah, at first when I wrote this fic, I didn't plan on continuing for this long so I rushed most of the key elements such as romance. But now I find it a good pastime when I got nothing else to do, so I've basically screwed myself over. I've got a perfect solution though; throw in a side-chapter where Shirou and Lucy interact a bit more before the Demon Island arc! Thanks for the review; I didn't want anyone crying over how weak or overpowered someone in my fic was so I put in a lot of time researching a character's particular abilities.

Zerodragon: Look forward to it!

MrNeedsToRemoveAllFavs: Yup, I believe he can only trace something very similar to Excalibur. Thanks for the reminder!

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoyed it.

I don't like asking for reviews, but this is probably the one time I'd like to hear your opinions about the way this chapter concluded. It was probably the most difficult chapter for me to write thus far and I'm not afraid to tinker with it if necessary.

Till next time, Cheers!


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